Ultimate Sailor Moon
by Shannon L. Young
Summary: A remake of the original Sailor Moon story set in a new place and new time. Darker and more violent than its original form, this take on the story is more epic in tone while still retaining the charm and humor of the original. For S.M. fans by a S.M. fan.
1. Chapter 1

**Authors Notes-**

Well, your old friend Shannon here again, author of the Sailor Soldiers Legacy Moon story that is posted under a different account because I forgot my log in details. Oh well, that works for me because I get to start fresh on here with my retelling of one of the best stories of all time. That's right, the first series of Sailor Moon. I've taken a lot of liberties with the base storyline and plan on molding it into a fresh take on the classic. I hope you all enjoy it because I'm writing this one as a labor of love, nothing more. Any questions or feedback is appreciated, us starving artists love it. Thrive on it. NEED IT TO LIVE!

Enjoy.

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**_I remember that day._**

**_It was on that day, when the kingdom of the moon burned to the ground, that I died for the first time. I remember all of it in painfully explicit detail. The smell of the bodies burning in the fires set by the traitors of the planet earth still chokes me when I breathe in. I watched from the hill overlooking the castle as the life I was devoted to protecting was ended in one swipe. Walls fell. Towers crumbled under the power of the demon Chaos. Innocent people were slaughtered like cattle._**

**_I'll never forget that day as long as I live…_**

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CHAPTER ONE

* * *

The skies were burning. The destroyer, Chaos as it was called throughout the universe, was descending from the heavens as the battle for the Moon kingdom raged on below. Soldiers from both sides, the valiant knights of the royal family of the Moon and the rebellious separatists from the Earth, raced towards each other in a bloodthirsty rage. 

The attack began earlier that day. Within hours the once towering monuments that surrounded the castle had crumbled into concrete piles, and the serenity that had laid over the Silver Millennium was destroyed with them.

The peace talks between the two sides had fallen apart earlier in the week. Even so, no one had expected anything like this to happen. No one in power on either side of the conflict were even sure what had led to this sudden war.

The sudden uprising was led by a priestess of the Earth, a brilliant and beautiful woman by the name of Beryl. Her ferocious screams echoed throughout the chaotic air, signaling her four great army to push forward and take the last beacon of hope for the royal family.

The castle of the Moon Kingdom was the last structure that hadn't been taken or destroyed by the unrelenting forces of the Earth. Inside were Queen Serenity, her daughter, a handful of soldiers, and the royal family's military tactician, Mercury.

The doors to the grand throne room were pushed open by two armored knights. Behind them followed Mercury, who quickly made her way to the queen who sat upon the throne of peace. Mercury kneeled before her queen, a polite but unnecessary gesture in these last days of the kingdom.

Serenity nodded at her advisor.

"What news do you bring from the front lines?" she asked.

Mercury looked away. She did not need words, her face said it all.

"Venus has reported that the courtyard will be breached within minutes. The earth's army seem to be possessed. They are attacking without caution or concern for their own lives. Our soldiers are no match for their sheer numbers."

Serenity sighed as she stood up. She made her way to a window where she watched the bloodshed continue from a distance. Her eyes turned upward to the demonic formation of debris and darkened storm clouds that were consuming the horizon on all sides.

"Chaos has driven the people of the Earth to do this."

Mercury nodded.

"I believe the same. The Destroyer has corrupted the planet itself and covered it in darkness. The people fighting right now are nothing more than mindless monsters. They are being led by Beryl, the self proclaimed queen of the Earth. Second only to her are the four warlords Kunzite, Zoisite, Nephrite, and Jadeite. They are leading the assault on the outskirts of the sea of Serenity while Beryl herself is making her way towards the castle. Mars and Jupiter are at the sea protecting the citizens that survived the initial attack, while Venus stands guard at the gates here."

"This kingdom will fall," said Serenity in a calm voice that was forced.

"Yes, your highness. It will."

"There is nowhere left to go, my queen," called out a familiar voice from behind Mercury.

The hopeless individuals in the room turned to face one Queen Serenity's guardians, the strikingly handsome silver haired Artemis. He rushed into past the guards and hugged Serenity, who held on to him tightly with crystallized tear drops falling from her blue eyes.

"Artemis…it will finally end."

"I know," he said softly as he let her go.

"Where is my daughter?"

Artemis looked towards the hall.

"In her room. She's terrified. Luna is trying to calm her down, but…what can you say? How do you tell someone they are going to die? Especially like this."

Serenity shook her head in disbelief. How did it come to this?

The monstrous destroyer Chaos had come from the sun itself it seemed. It devoured the stars and planets themselves as it made its way towards its next victim, the center of the galaxy, the moon. It was thought to have been an unthinking creature at first, but research had shown that the monster was capable of thinking adapting. So what was its purpose? Why was it doing this!?

"This is no way for us to meet our end. There has to be a way. The silver crystal will be our salvation. I was entrusted with this incredible power to save and defend, I will not lose the fight now! Mercury, go back to the war room and hold the enemy as long as possible. Artemis, follow me. We must figure out a way to stop this monster."

"Yes, my queen," said Artemis and Mercury in unison.

In her lavishly decorated private room, the young maiden that shared the same name as all women had in her bloodline, the princess Serenity, laid crying into the lap of her best friend and personal guardian Luna.

"Have faith in your mother. She won't let anything happen to you my dear."

The younger Serenity looked up at Luna with red strained eyes. They were a painful reflection of the dread and hopelessness that had consumed a once peaceful empire.

"How can you say that? So many people are dead. People I knew! People I loved! They're all dead and I don't even know why!"

Luna was at a loss for words. She herself had no clue as to what was going on. But the girl was right. People were dying. That was all that mattered. Lives were being snuffed out as easily as candles without rhyme or reason. Though the people were resilient and continued to fight on despite the overwhelming odds, it was all for nothing. There would be no miracle this time. It was a thought that the guardian had tried to block from her mind to no avail. She put on her best face for Serenity out of compassion for the young girl, if nothing else.

"Sometimes things happen without good reason. Humanity is flawed and people do things that we cannot comprehend."

"Luna…" Serenity said with a shaky voice that showed less of her mature royal side and more of the fact that, at heart, she was just a scared little girl. "I don't want to die."

With that the young girl burst into tears. She had only cried like this once before at the funeral for her father. The princess respected her father and tried her hardest to keep her emotions inward for his memory. She never thought she'd feel pain like that again. But now her world was falling apart so fast she couldn't even keep up with the misery. She couldn't control the tears if she tried.

Serenity collapsed back into the arms of Luna, who could do nothing but pet the poor girls head as the world around them came crumbling down.

Then, like a rose of hope cutting through the darkness, his voice called to her.

"Serenity!"

Luna and the princess looked up to see the valiant prince of the Earth, the handsome young Endymion, watching the maiden with loving eyes.

"Endymion!" she called back to her lost love as she ran towards him. The seconds between them seemed like eternities to the young lovers. When she could finally touch that which was golden to her she wrapped her arms around him with the hopes of never having to let go. The two shared one last kiss that would echo throughout time.

Luna smiled. Even in what would be their final moments together they could find solace in their love for each other. It made her happy, though her heart ached. She wished she could see Artemis right now and be held just the same way. But such loneliness came with their responsibility. She just worried that she might never see him again, and that was more frightening than any other fate imaginable.

Serenity stared into the eyes of the man she loved. She was distraught but overjoyed. Terrified but calm. His eyes told a different story. He was as serious as she had ever seen him. There seemed to be no time for rejoice. No moment of release for him. He brought news that would mark the beginning of the end for them all.

"Beryl and her army has broken through the courtyard to the castle gates."

Serenity's heart sank. She backed away from her love and fall onto her bed. The moment was gone. Hope was dead.

Prince Endymion turned to Luna and drove the final nail.

"Chaos has begun to devour the Moon."

At the Sea of Serenity, the royal knight Jupiter and the lone warrior Mars held off the onslaught of the Earth soldiers with what was left of their own army. Things looked their bleakest.

Jupiter looked up at the swirling storm of Chaos and followed its form to the section that had burrowed itself into a part of the Moon that lay somewhere in the distance. Rock, buildings, and even corpses were sucked into the swirling void as it made a line across the kingdom, scarring and shattering the ground as it continued to consume.

"This is the end!" said the buxom woman in shining silver plate armor. "What a lame way to die!"

Mars glared at the girl through the raven colored locks of hair that hung over her left eye.

"I don't plan on dying here. Are you going to fight or lament?" she said as she took a defensive position and held her incredibly long sword up.

Jupiter brushed the bangs out of her eyes and smiled.

"You take the fun out of battle, you know that?"

Mars smiled back at her.

"But when you're right, you're right." said Jupiter as she raised her rapier up as a signal to what was left of their troops. She looked over the wave of enemies that was heading their way and laughed to herself. She saw the four generals of the Earth, Kunzite, Zoisite, Nephrite, and Jadeite in the distance. If she and Mars could battle their way through the countless soldiers in front of them they'd get a shot at the best warriors in the entire galaxy.

"This should be interesting!"

With a final battle cry she pointed her sword at the enemy and the entire platoon screamed out as they made their charge. Behind them were the survivors of the initial attack and the last living people of the Moon. If the two generals were to fall here the Moon would surely be lost. There was no 'if' in this situation though. They would fall, as would the entire kingdom. It was just a matter of time before everyone was dead. The question they had posed to themselves was would they accept their fate or fight it until the last breath was cut from them?

It goes without saying what their answer was.

Jupiter knocked back opposing soldiers with her heavy gauntlet, piercing their chests with her rapier as she ran right into the middle of the fight. Around her soldiers from both sides of the fight were falling to her feet. She dodged, parried, and stabbed to death countless people she had once fought for. She was a true warrior that had gone from a child prodigy to a legend on the battlefield. The people of Earth would have known what a mistake they were making by stepping in front of her blade if they weren't shells of what they had once been. With little to no effort she continued to slice through her enemies while heading towards the four warlords that sat atop their horses in the clear behind the battle.

The shogun Mars stood defensively and let the enemy come to her. When the fools fell into her trap she used her long curved blade to split them in half in one fell swipe. Whereas Jupiter took them out one by one, she preferred to destroy eight or nine at once. Once one wave was down she would move forward and repeat her performance. She was incredibly fast and wore little to no armor to slow her down. Her arching swing required as little resistance as possible and the minimum clothing she wore served as a bonus to her dexterity as well as a distraction to her enemies.

Mars and Jupiter cut through the Earth soldiers left and right as they made their way to the generals. What they didn't pay attention to was the fact that all of their own troops were now dead and they were the only ones left to defend the innocent.

"I want the tall one with the curly hair! Just my type!" she called out to Mars while pointing to Nephrite.

Mars shook her head in disbelief.

"This really isn't the time for your hormones! They may be mindless drones, but don't underestimate the lackeys!" she said in a moment of irony.

She didn't notice the Earth soldier that had survived one of Jupiter's piercing blows picking up his sword for one last strike. While she was trying to keep her longtime friend alive that same soldier summoned all of his strength to stand and lift his blade and stab Mars right in the back.

The dark haired beauty's eyes widened as the sword came out through her stomach. She fell to one knee, allowing another soldier to approach and run his sword through her chest and out her back. Another approached to the left and in a moment of pure rage Mars let out a painful scream, gripped her grand blade and made one last strike, beheading the soldier that originally wounded her and cutting the other two in half. She took her final breath and fell face first to the ground.

"NO!" shrieked Jupiter at the sight of her best friend laying in a pool of her own blood.

Enraged, she began to fight without sense or strategy. She hacked, slashed, and stabbed anyone that stood in her way. Dozens fell every half of a minute in her charge. She was so angry that she didn't feel one of their blades slide under her breastplate and into her chest. She didn't feel the slash to her leg that forced her to stumble as she fought. She couldn't even feel the razor sharp sword slice across her throat as she forced her way to the warlords.

She stood in front of the four of them and raised her sword to do battle.

Kunzite, the long haired leader of the four, climbed off of his horse and drew his blade.

"It's a shame your life was wasted in a place like this. I've never seen such a will to fight." he said in a deep booming voice.

"Why are you doing this?" Jupiter asked as she held her hand over the blood pouring out of the gaping wound in her neck.

"We will be ruled over as slaves no longer!" called out Jadeite.

"You immortals will no longer watch us struggle and die from your paradise!" added Nephrite.

"Beryl will create a utopia for all! Not just for her own selfish bloodline!" yelled Zoisite.

Jupiter laughed before coughing up more blood.

"You fools! Chaos will destroy you all and everyone else! If we had worked together we could have found a way to stop this!"

"Why would we want to stop it?" Kunzite asked with a grin. "This universe must be cleansed. Chaos has come to save us all. Of course the Moon would want to stop that. Why share power?"

"You're all a bunch of…fools…." Jupiter began to whisper as her life faded from her. She fell to her hands and knees and began coughing up what seemed like every ounce of blood in her body.

Kunzite walked calmly over to the prone girl and raised his sword high.

"I hope we meet again in another life. I want you to know I take no joy in this tainted victory."

With those final words he swung his sword downward, lopping off Jupiter's head. Her lifeless body fell over beside it, and the innocents that she had died for prepared themselves for the most brutal of ends.

At the gates to the castle, the first knight Venus dropped to her knees. Mercury had just told her through communicator that both Jupiter and Mars had fallen in battle. Her best friends were gone. Her home planet had already been consumed and devoid of life by the monster Chaos. The tall gates that kept the enemy out were about to fall and in a matter of moments the castle would be breached and they would all be overrun with soldiers.

"Why? Why are we being punished?" the golden haired valkryie asked rhetorically.

"Venus!" called out Artemis as he ran from the castle doors.

Venus didn't look at him. She stared forward as she lost the feeling in her hands and her legendary sword fell from her hands. She felt like she couldn't move. Had everything she fought for been pointless? Who was to blame for this? Those who have power and keep it for themselves under the promise of peace, or those who seek it to become equal?

That was the question that had burned right to her soul. That crystal was to blame for all of this…

"Venus, the queen has a plan to save us all!"

The words snapped her out of her own little world.

"What?! How can she possibly save us now?"

"The silver crystal! She's going to use entire power of the crystal to seal away Chaos and purify the souls of Earth's warriors!"

Venus couldn't comprehend the power behind that crystal. She loathed it.

"This isn't the first war to be fought because of that damned thing…is it, Artemis?"

The guardian was confused. Why was his trusted associate acting so strangely so suddenly?

"I don't understand!"

Venus stood up and gestured towards the entire scene-the gates that were moments away from coming down, the senseless killing that was happening everywhere around them, and the monstrous entity called Chaos.

"THIS! All of this! Why is this happening? Is it because of that crystal? Because of Queen Serenity? Why did this have to happen to so many innocent people! Why won't she tell us what's going on? I am not going to sacrifice more lives for her! If she has the unlimited power that she claims to have, why has she allowed Chaos to destroy my planet? My friends? MY FAMILY?!"

"You sound like you've already given up! Venus, you are the queen's royal guard and Princess Serenity's personal protector! You've used your sword to defend their beliefs for years! Don't give up on them now, not when they need you most! You've believed in them and trusted them your entire life. Don't lose that light now, I beg of you!"

Venus sighed and picked up her sword.

"You're right, Artemis. I am sorry. I just don't want anyone else to die, Earth or Moon. I want things to be like before. That's a fools dream now, isn't it?"

Artemis nodded.

"Yes. But hope isn't lost. The queen says she can save us and I believe in her. I will believe in her until my dying day. She's going to sacrifice herself to save all of us."

Venus stared at Artemis with eyes of admiration.

"You were always my great friend and ally. And before I die I want you to know that while I devoted my very soul to defending the royal family, I have loved you my entire life."

"Why are you telling me this now!" he answered in a voice that bordered on anger.

"I don't think I'll ever get another chance to say it." she said with tears in her eyes as the gates came crashing down behind her with a thunderous boom. The war cries of a hundred warriors cut through the silence as they stampeded towards the castle doors.

"Venus…."

"Tell Serenity I'm sorry. I've given my entire life to her and asked for nothing in return. This is the last time I use my sword in the name of the queen.. "

Before Artemis could say anything, Venus had turned to the army thundering towards her and charged into them with her righteous blade. She soon disappeared into a tornado of violence and screams. Artemis couldn't see the end for the holy knight, but he knew she would be dead soon. But her sacrifice would give Queen Serenity the time she needed to call forth the power of the silver crystal and finally destroy the devourer Chaos. It had to be done, at least, that's what he kept telling himself.

"You will not die in vain, Venus. Serenity will keep her promise." he said as he walked calmly back towards the palace amidst the chaos.

* * *

**_I will never forget my last moments. I gave my life so that others would live and tell the tale of the Moon Kingdom's destruction. I wanted my death to be the end of wars. That was my greatest wish. However, that was not the case, was it Serenity? I find myself alive again, a thousand years into the future. I don't know why I've been revived, but I'm not the only one._**

* * *

High atop one of the buildings that look over the River Thames in London, England, a silent figure watches the growing storm overhead. The figure pulls the hood that hides their identity back to reveal the face of a beautiful blonde teenage girl. She looks up into the dark clouds as rain began to pour down onto her. 

"Chaos is coming." she said to the man standing behind her.

Artemis, once the proud guardian of the queen of the Moon herself, stood beside the girl and looked out towards the ferris wheel that laid motionless in the distance.

"Serenity could not seal away the destroyer forever. In her final moments she sent us all forward to the future to live once more."

The girl shook her head.

"Why, to relive the pain? To die once more? I won't let it happen." she said as she stood up and pulled her hood back over her head.

"Venus, wh--"

"Don't call me that." the girl said, cutting him off. "My name is Mina. That woman is a ghost. I am no longer a knight. I am a normal girl who wants to live a normal life and not watch her world be destroyed again because of others greed."

Mina didn't have all of her memories back yet, but she knew enough. She knew what she had to do.

"What are you going to do?" Artemis asked.

"Find the queen's daughter. Put an end to this before it can start again. The crystal is the key. Chaos hungers for it, you said that's what Serenity told you personally."

Artemis nodded.

"Yes. The power of the crystal would sustain his life for an eternity and give him unlimited power. That's why it is imperative we find Serenity's daughter and keep her safe from the forces of darkness. We've been revived and Chaos has found the location of the crystal once more. We have to act quickly. Its already got Beryl and her dark kingdom looking for her right now. Reports of strange phenomenon have been pouring in from all over the world lately."

"You're right." said Mina in a subtle British accent. "We have to find her, kill her, and destroy that crystal before everyone else."

"Mina!"

The blonde girl turned towards her old friend and stared at him hatefully.

"I won't let this world end up the same way mine did. The Silver Millennium was destroyed and it should stay destroyed. If Serenity really wanted peace for us all she would have done the same. She was blinded by love for her daughter, but I am not. I will do what I must for the sake of this planet. If the princess won't give up her royal heirloom willingly I will pry it from her cold dead hands."

Artemis knew how serious she was. In a way he agreed with her. But there had to be a better way than this. Would he really have to betray his promise of protecting the princess to save the world?

"Where are we going?" Mina called out as she continued to walk across the tall building.

He had no choice. He had to find the princess. The forces of darkness were already on the move. He would have to make a decision on where his loyalties were at a later time. He couldn't let his sense of honor allow the world to be destroyed once again.

"I did some research and found that unnatural energy began to pulsate in Tokyo, Japan, but they've moved to the United States. The princess was reborn at the same time as you and isn't even aware of who she really is. Queen Serenity left the crystal to Luna with the mission of finding her daughter and giving it to her in our present time. Luna has been tracking her down and has found her location somewhere in California."

"You feel guilty about using Luna to find her, don't you?"

Artemis nodded.

"Yes. I haven't told her…your plans. If I did there is no way she would help me. She still believes in the queen."

Mina took one last look across her beloved London. She grew up here. She was going to live a normal happy life here. She was going to fall in love, go to college, and make a life for herself. But fate was always cruel to her. She was just a teenage girl now, but the fate of the world was in her hands. She wanted no part of it, but in all honesty it kind of felt natural. She could not turn her back on her destiny, no matter how badly she wanted to.

"Let's go, Artemis. If I stay here any longer I won't be able do this."

Artemis stared down at the ground. He was ashamed at himself for bringing this on the poor girl once again, especially now that she had a shot at a free life. He knew it was the only thing she ever wanted.

"I'm sorry."

Mina kept walking. She couldn't stop or turn around because Artemis would see the tears streaming down her face.

"Me too." she whispered to herself.


	2. Chapter 2

"I've found Venus. We're on our way to the states now to regroup with you. Its just…."

Artemis knocked his head gently against the wall behind the pay phone. He was having a hard time keeping his mouth shut about Mina's plans for the princess once they had found her. If he told Luna that she was intending on murdering the mystery girl there is no way they would receive any more help. He was stuck between a rock and a hard place. He didn't even know who trust anymore, as both Luna and Mina made good points. His only option was to let things play out a bit and, when push came to shove, do what his heart told him. That's what Serenity had always said.

_Trust in yourself…_

"I feel terrible about this. When I found her she just looked so happy. I can't remember a single time she smiled like that when she served as Serenity's first knight. Do you know what it's like to tell a teenage girl that she has to sacrifice her life once more for the sake of a world she hasn't experienced? If the queen really wanted to save them, why are we doing this to them?"

The sweet but critical voice of Luna called out to him from the other side of the conversation.

"_We have no choice. The storms are growing worse. I tried putting this off as long as I could, but you can feel what's coming just as I can. Whatever Queen Serenity did wasn't enough to destroy Chaos._"

"If that's the case, if the queen failed, then what chance do we have without her power? I don't understand why this is happening!"

"_I don't know either, but I won't just lay down and die. It's no mere coincidence that we were reborn at this time. And we know that the others have been reincarnated on this earth as well. She must have had a plan. You weren't there for the final battle, Artemis. Her daughter was killed right in front of her by that witch Beryl._"

Artemis felt a chill go up his spine at the mere mention of the name.

"Beryl… Why would the high priestess of the Earth suddenly turn into such a cruel monster. It doesn't make any sense."

"_It was not the same Beryl you and I had come to know as a spiritual leader to that planet. She had been warped into some kind of demonic host. Serenity was filled with such grief and pain that she could not think straight. Before she sacrificed herself she promised to send us all to a peaceful future, free of the nightmares that surrounded us. I don't know what went wrong, Artemis. All we can do is prepare for the worst, and you know just as well as I do that the worst is coming._"

Artemis looked out towards the cloudy skies. He could feel it too. The devourer was still out there, somewhere, searching for the crystal. Once it had a target it would destroy everything in its path, just as it almost did a thousand years ago. There was no time to question.

"We'll be there soon. But there is something I need to tell you. Venus isn't like she used to be." he said.

He was struggling with the decision to tell Luna what was going on. He found it hard to keep secrets from someone he cared about so deeply.

"About the princess… Venus…"

"_I have to go. I've found her._"

"Her? You mean--" he started to say before the click of the phone alerted him to the fact that she had already hung up. If she had indeed found her then what she was saying all along was true. The knights had all been reborn at the same time. This wasn't blind luck. Fate was transpiring to bring them all together once again.

He and Luna were becoming fate's lackeys.

The flight was going to be hours long. She could just feel the ghosts of the past laughing at her as she once again gave up her independence and flew blindly towards a bloody destiny. But for Mina, former royal guard of the Moon Kingdom and heir to it's undying curse, this was no mere mission. This was not another heroic moment in time. This was means to an end. More significant to the history of the universe, this was spitting right in the face of destiny.

She had been told as much as Artemis could remember. She had no memory of it herself. He could be a crazy person for all she knew. But she felt truth in his words and a sense of peace in her soul that she had never felt before. She had a suspicion that something in her life was amiss, but could never figure it out for herself. She thought she was just a dumb fifteen year old girl who was having that whole teenage confusion thing. Who could have guessed that she was fated to be the past's assassin?

She couldn't understand this curse. She had died once, hadn't she? If this was her second chance at a normal life, why wasn't she given the option? It made no sense.

Rhyme and reason made no difference anymore. The world would end. This city would crumble. It was time to leave this place behind her.

Still, as she stared out the window of the terminal at her home, she couldn't help but feel nostalgic. The good times surely outweighed the bad, and she would always leave a part of herself in England. It was the part of her that was still free. That free girl, spinning around carelessly in her school uniform, would be a ghost amongst the shadows of England.

An unwanted guest had spotted her and made his way towards the girl. The sight of a mini skirt and thigh high socks was too much for him to ignore. Casanova strutted towards Mina, who continued to stare solemnly out towards freedom.

"Hey there. You look down. I was wondering if--"

"Sod off." Mina said, cutting him off.

"No need to be rash, love. I just hate seeing a pretty girl--"

"What part of sod off did you not catch, nonce?"

"Filthy little bint, who do you think you're talking to!?!?" he said angrily as he grabbed Mina by her shoulder.

Before she even had the chance to shove her knee directly towards his crotch she was "saved" by her knight in shining white leather, Artemis. In one fell swoop he grabbed the jackasses arm, punched him in the side, and tossed him to the ground.

"Not very chivalrous, friend. Be a sport and go sleep it off somewhere. I'm far more forgiving than she is." he said, nodding towards the blonde girl that had never taken her eyes off of the window.

The man on the floor, red faced and humiliated, opted to not try his luck on this particular day. He picked himself up, muttered some kind of insult towards the duo, and made his way to a different section of the airport.

"Nice work. You want to get the rotters after us?"

Artemis sat down next to her and joined in her window watching.

"Please, for my sake. Less British slang. It's like I need a damn subtitle and translator option when I'm talking to you sometimes."

Mina nodded.

"Wasn't my choice to be born here. Doesn't seem like I have a lot of choices these days. But, if possible, I'd rather not find myself in jail today for roughing up some div."

Artemis shook his head.

"I was just protecting you. That's why I was reborn, remember?"

Mina could feel the tears starting to well up. Sometimes it was the smallest phrases that hurt you the most. 

"Well you suck at your job," she said as she walked away to some lonesome corner of the airport to wait out the remaining time till their plane boarded alone.

Artemis sunk in his seat. This was becoming more and more painful. He asked himself if all of the girls were going to be like this? Mina was scared, bitter, and resentful of her destiny. And truth be told, she had every right to be. How do you tell a free spirited little girl that she's to go fight and die because of loyalties forged on a different planet a thousand years ago?

He hoped Luna was having better luck finding the others.

Little did he know just what kind of trouble she was in for when she did.

Inside a seemingly black void a voice called out in solitude, hoping to grasp hold of someone, anyone, to listen to it's plight.

The voiced belonged to the beautiful queen of darkness and former exalted priestess of the earth. Somewhere in that isolated hell she now called home, a voice called back to her.

"_**She was powerless to stop us and unable to destroy us. Serenity has failed. Your time has finally come**_"

Beryl stood up from her rotting throne, looking for the source of the voice. It was the same voice that had convinced her to attack the moon. It was the exact same voice that told her to take revenge for the wrongs that were committed against her. She blamed that voice just as much as she blamed that damned queen of the white moon for her imprisonment in hell.

It was a voice she could not fight. A voice she could resist. She was a slave to it's will.

"Majesty… Why do you call me that? Metallia… Look around you. Look at what has become of the Earth kingdom. A forgotten relic littered with the ghosts of people who put their trust in me. It's because of you that my people have suffered so much."

"_**You're wrong. It was you who thirsted for revenge. It was you that gave the orders. It was you that choked the life out of that girl that stole your only happiness!**_"

"Serenity…."

"_**Yes. Serenity. You must forget that name. The Serenity you knew is dead. Her empire has fallen and she has long decomposed on that cold moon that has become her tomb. But you must find her daughter, the thief, the whore that stole your love. She has been reborn on the planet you once called your own and someday she will be their new queen.**_"

"Impossible! How can you know such things?"

"_**I see everything. The past, the present, and the future. I am the beginning and the end**__**You must believe in my words.**_"

Beryl laughed. There was nothing that was even remotely funny, however. Her laugh was a painful one, a sound carved from a thousand years of isolation and self inflicted torment.

"Is this a part of your grand vision? Wasting away in darkness? Is this what I gave up my humanity for? You promised me what my heart desired most., yet all I have to show for it is a crumbling kingdom and a court of monsters. Why should I believe anything you tell me?"

"_**Because you are nothing without my power. Before I came you were a mindless drone with no strength or will. You were a pathetic woman that couldn't even keep the interest of a single man**_"

Beryl clenched her fist tightly. Those words sliced through her like the world's sharpest sword.

"_**With my help you will become a God**_"

The queen of darkness stared into the void that surrounded her. She had to fight back the tears that she knew Metallia had already sensed. She thought to herself-"_How did it come to this_?" It was a question she had analyzed for hundreds of years. In a moment of weakness, when she felt as powerless and lonely as anyone had ever been, she made the mistake a million life times.

She had made a pact with the Devil itself.

"I could have lived a good life and died an honorable death. If I hadn't been so blind before… I know now, creature. Immortality is a desire of demons. I do not wish to be a God."

"_**You don't have a choice.**_"

"Try to convince me all you want. I know that your powers are growing weak. You won't be able to control me much longer."

"_**You are a fool, Beryl. You always were, and you always will be. You are nothing but a shell. Soon I will no longer need your filthy body and I will shed you like a snake does it's skin.**_"

Beryl felt what seemed like a sharp slice inside of her chest. It was happening again.

"I…will…stop you…" she managed to spit out through the pain.

The voice laughed maniacally throughout the darkness. It was a deep, distorted, disturbing sound that could shatter diamonds and implode ear drums. The unseen rocks that lined the darkness crumbled and fell as pebbles around the girl as she fought to maintain her essence. It was no use. She wasn't strong enough to keep the darkness away before, she could not prevent its presence now.

"_**You are my puppet. And I grow tired of your crying.**_"

Beryl's eyes began to glow white as blood started to pour from the sockets. She let out a bloodcurdling scream of agony and fell to her knees. She struggled to control the monster that was taking over her very form but a thousand years of being trapped inside this black void had made her weak, both spiritually and physically. She had no choice but to succumb to the darkness that she had sold her soul to so long ago.

"Serenity!" she screamed out as she fell to the floor, a bloody pathetic puppet.

Beryl stared upwards into nothing. Her head was pounding. Her vision, already clouded by the black room, grew darker and darker as she slipped away. Pain shot through her body, as if someone were hammering every inch of her with a mallet. Her heart felt like it was going to explode. Her very blood boiled inside of her own body. It was an unimaginable pain. It had been like this for a thousand years and every time it happened she felt another part of herself die. She wasn't sure how much longer she had left. She would have another chance to devise a plan once the Metallia's life energy diminished once more. Until then, she had no choice but to watch everything from a corner in her own tormented mind.

The doors to the so called throne room burst open and Jadeite, the youngest of the four horsemen of the Dark Kingdom, rushed in. The doors remained open at enough of an angle to let what little light illuminated the castle outside to flood in. In the dim room Jadeite found Beryl lying on the floor motionless. He rushed to her side and nudged her shoulder with his arm to wake her up. Today he would learn another item to place on his "do not do" list.

Without warning Beryl knocked Jadeite back with enough foce in her blow to send him flying back at least thirty feet. She stood up, her eyes glowing even brighter through the blood that poured over them and down to the ground, and screamed at him with such a loud powerful voice that the room itself shook.

"_**DO NOT TOUCH ME!**_"

" I'm sorry highness… Your scream alarmed us all. We were afraid something had--" he said as he climbed back to his feet.

"Fear is for the weak, insect. I have no need for your concern."

The general watched in fear as the blood seemed to suck right back into the queen's eye sockets and her bright eyes faded to what could be considered a normal glow for her.

Jadeite was a pro at humbling himself before the queen. Some called him a coward, others called him an opportunist. He considered himself a mastermind. Of all the generals that made up Beryl's horsemen he was the most calculated and less likely to let his emotions get the best of him. That made him invaluable in a war fought over something as petty and insignificant as love. His only weakness was his fear of the powerful entity they called Beryl.

"Accept my apologies my queen. I didn't mean to step out of place."

The queen of darkness practically glided across the floor to sit back in her throne. She closed her eyes and summoned an orb out of thin air. It crackled with electricity as images began to form out of the purple clouds that swirled to and fro inside of it. They were images of a far away place, a place she could not go as the years of imprisonment had made the demon far too weak to cross the void that separated our dimension from hers.

Serenity could not seal her away forever, but that wretched woman had caused her more trouble than she could have ever imagined.

"Servant of Chaos, go to Earth and gather energy so that our savior may come and cleanse this earth of the filth that has wasted it. Do so, and we will take back our planet and escape from this hell. But be wary… The reincarnations of those damned warriors are on the planet now as well. The princess herself is alive once more. While you are gathering energy for our lord, I want you to find the child and slaughter her. Slaughter them all."

Jadeite kneeled before his queen.

"Yes, highness. But how will I find them?"

The queen stared into her orb. The electricity began to intensify as it spread from around the crystal to the woman herself. Cracks of thunder broke the dead silence as bolts of lightning shot back and forth between the two.

"The silver crystal's aura grows stronger and stronger on that planet. Those little girls may already be awakening. There are strange energy levels in parts of the world that seem to be coming together in one place. The wheels of destiny are beginning to turn. Begin your search there. Create havoc and they will find you."

Jadeite nodded and smiled to himself. This was his chance. While the others argued back and forth about past tragedies he would seize the chance to become a hero of the dark kingdom. And, with a plan known only to himself, he would find the silver crystal and use it to become it's new leader. He would soon be the overlord that he had always wanted to be.

"Consider it done, highness."

He bowed his head and walked away from the queen. As he neared the exit the throne room doors shut right in front of him, blocking his escape.

"Do not fail me, Jadeite.."

The doors opened once more and Jadeite scurried away to devise a plan of destruction for the blue planet. He was egotistical but intelligent. Cowardly but calculated. He knew she was serious. There was no way he could overpower her right now. He would serve his queen until he could crush her.

Inside the throne room an unfamiliar voice called out.

"Do you really believe he can do it?"

Beryl smiled as she stared into her orb.

"Of course not. He would be easily vanquished by the moon's warriors if they had remembered themselves completely. But he will be more than adequate at gathering energy for me so that I may finally rid myself of this hideous body and the pathetic soul that inhabits it."

A young man with jet black hair, who looked no older than a teenager himself, appeared suddenly from a gust of wind in an otherwise deadly calm room.

"My brother seeks to betray you," he said without expression.

"I am aware, Jade. There is nothing my servants can keep from me. He will follow my command until he feels I am weak enough to overthrow. However, once I have no more use for him you will destroy him for me. Understood?"

"Yes. I will rip his heart from his chest and eat it in front of him."

Jade's bright green eyes appeared free of soul and conscience as he agreed. Family meant nothing to him. It was just another life to end in servitude to the higher power.

The boy disappeared once again, leaving the queen alone with her inner demons. He was one of Beryl's most powerful zealots, and he would be a deciding factor in the war that was about to erupt once more.

It would begin on that planet that Beryl could not see, nor could she remember anymore. She could only watch it through her magical orb, which she did with great joy. As she looked over the blue sky and green grass she felt a tug inside of her chest. Someone was getting sentimental…

"Calm yourself, Beryl. Or I'll begin mutilating this shell you are so attached to and rip the face from your head."

The creature laughed once again. It was beginning to enjoy this existence it was given by Chaos. But inside, somewhere deep beyond the black poison that had corrupted both body and soul, was the remnants of the true Beryl-mourning, weeping, and regretting.

And, somewhere hidden inside of the misery, hoping. Serenity was a noble queen, full of grace, compassion, and strength. Surely her daughter would be just as incredible. That was Beryl's hope.

If only she knew.

Somewhere far away from the doom and gloom of the Dark Kingdom, the rightful heir to the throne was on her way to face the greatest foe she had ever encountered in her new life.

The beast was called…the public education system.

"Being a sophomore sucks."

The two fashionable teenager girls walked casually towards their high school in sunny California. It was an everyday event, yet one that was consistently met with hostility and sorrow.

One of the girls was the ever vivacious Molly Baker, daughter of the wealthy diamond dealer Anna Baker. Molly was one of the most popular girls at her school for very good reason. Aside from her good looks and polite nature she was also worth a fortune. But despite her fortune and privilege she was very much unlike the snobby little rich girls that seemed to strangle the school they all went to in the city of Crossroads.

Walking the trail of tears to high school was Molly's best friend, Serena Tsukino.

Serena was a strange girl. Born in Tokyo to a Japanese father and Caucasian mother, her family moved to America when she was seven and had been bouncing around from city to city before settling in Crossroads a few years ago. She had a hard time adjusting to life in the states, but at sixteen years old now she had become a California girl, at the cost of losing some of her Japanese heritage. She would have been indistinguishable from the crowd if not for her exotic Asian American look and unusual personality.

Dressed in button down long sleeves and skirts that were teetering on the edge of acceptable, the two girls turned heads as they made their way past the gates to their school and began their descent into the hell that is public school.

"High school sucks. Life sucks." Serena said as she fumbled with her cell phone as she walked.

"I'm sure there are people worse off than we are." Molly replied as she nodded in greeting towards acquaintances as they passed.

"Doubtful. We catch all the bad breaks it seems. The life so a pretty girl is so traumatic."

Serena stopped as she noticed a lone girl leaning against the brick wall to the school beyond the small trees that adorned the front of the building. It was a pretty good hiding spot for people that wanted to partake in activities that weren't smiled upon by school officials. Stuff Serena and Molly would know nothing about, naturally.

They both knew who it was. The girl always stood back there out of view and smoked before school started. They had spotted her a hundred times before on their way into the building and usually let it go without a second glance. But today Serena felt different. She was annoyed with life in general. It might have been because she spent all of her money on new tops during a recent credit card expedition and had to wait to purchase the matching bottoms. Or it could be that her grades had been on a steady decline since the beginning of time and her family finally started giving her a hard time about it. Or maybe the girl leaning against the wall just really pissed her off for no other reason than they were both girls and logic was genetically scarce when it came to members of the same sex.

Whatever the reason was, Serena had no intentions of ignoring these things today.

"Come on, Molly. I'm going to put an end to this."

Molly looked at the clock on her cell phone. It was only moments before the first bell would ring.

"Leave her alone. We don't have time for this today."

"No way." Serena said as she purposely marched towards the girl. "I'm tired of forcing myself to follow all these stupid rules and have people like her laughing in my face."

"Serena, that doesn't make sense. She really hasn't ever said anything to you…"

"Then I'm on my period and just generally aggravated!"

The two came upon the girl and were struck by what they say. Neither of them were expecting her to be so beautiful. If it weren't for the dark eye liner, multi colored knee high socks, Chevelle shirt, and black gothic skirt she could be a supermodel. Her hair, dark brown with red highlights, draped over her right eye like a curtain.

"What do you think you're doing?"

The girl took a drag off of her cigarette and looked up at the sophomore.

"Do I know you?"

"You wish. I'm afraid I don't associate with the bottom of the barrel."

Molly nudged Serena and whispered in her ear "_that was mean_."

The girl kicked off of the wall and it became apparent to the other two that leaning on the building definitely screwed with their perception of how tall she really was. With her legs stretched out completely she was easily 5"11, maybe even 6 feet tall. When considering that the two of them were both hovering around the 5"6 mark, this was starting to seem like an extremely bad idea.

"You're the spoiled little sluts in my English class." she said as she took one final smoke and tossed the cigarette to the ground.

"SLUTS?! At least I go to class. I don't know where you find the time to do it in between My Chemical Romance concerts and nicotine breaks."

"Why are you acting like this, Tsukino?"

"I don't know why they let people like you into this school. But since we're on a name basis now, how about you tell me yours so I can tell them what you're doing out here?"

The girl got into Serena's face, though she had to look down on the much shorter girl to look her in the eye. The two stared at each other for a few tense moments before the morning bell rang throughout the area.

"We're late now thanks to you!"

The girl shrugged and started to walk away from the duo and the school.

"Fine by me. Didn't really want to show up today anyway."

Molly grabbed Serena by her wrist and pulled her in the opposite direction towards the front doors.

"We're screwed now thanks to you! Your mood swings have been getting worse and worse. Why were you trying to pick a fight with that girl anyway?" she asked as the two sprinted towards class.

"I don't know. I haven't been feeling well lately… Sometimes it feels like I'm not even myself anymore. I feel anxious and worried and I have no idea why. I'm sorry I snapped at her. I didn't even get her name or else I'd try to find her and apologize."

"Maybe you'll run into her again. Could be fate. Perhaps you knew each other in a past life or something." Molly said with a giggle.

Serena scoffed at the thought.

"Yeah right. Who believes in that stuff anyway?" she asked as the two entered and made a line straight towards first period.

Outside of the school, standing against the sunlight like some kind of omen, was a goddess clad in a red and yellow sun dress with hair that fell past her long sexy legs and almost to her knees. She pulled down her dark sunglasses as she watched the two girls disappear into the crowd of people inside of the high school.

"I have to go. I've found her." she said into her cell phone before hanging up on whoever was on the other side.

The woman held her hands close to heart. She could feel it. The person she had been seeking for so long was so close to her now. She wanted to reach out and touch the girl she once considered to be her best friend and confidant. She felt a warm comforting sensation inside of her chest at the very thought of that girl. She knew that life would change for all of them soon. They would all hate her. But for now, at this moment, in the warm morning sun under the perfect azure sky, Luna was happy.

She had found her at last.

"Serenity…"


	3. Chapter 3

"_**I'm sorry, but this is something you have to face, child. You will fight or you will die. This is your curse. Ignoring your destiny will doom existence itself. Can you live the rest of your short meaningless life with that on your soul**_?"

Somehow she heard the familiar voice through the screams that resonated in her mind.

"_Serena_!!"

Was it Molly? She couldn't figure it out. Everything felt like some kind of hazy dream. Was she still asleep? It sure as hell felt like it. She tried to open her eyes but they felt too heavy. Her eyelids fell like steel curtains every time she tried to lift them. She tried to move her hands to climb to her feet but the most she could do was wiggle her fingers. She felt so weak, like an infant trying to walk for the first time.

What had happened to her?

Without vision her other senses seemed heightened. She could hear sirens somewhere in the distance amongst the screams. Her skin was burning, it felt like her whole body was on fire. She could smell the sundering ashes of her surroundings. And beyond that was a scent she would never forget. It was the smell of burning bodies.

It was all coming back to her now. The discovery. The rejection. The fight.

The nightmare.

The feeling that she had lost control of her life burned into her brain. She didn't believe it. Who would? Destiny? The devourer? What kind of sense did any of that make? She would have run a thousand miles away from the madness if she could. But destiny drew the evil to her. She could not run anymore. This was her life. This was her fate. She had no choice now but to stand up and fight.

The world counted on it, after all. But she wasn't doing it for the world. This was for her family, and her friends. The world was cruel and unforgiving. Sometimes she felt like it needed to be destroyed. But she couldn't let the people she loved suffer because she was a coward.

Yes, she wanted to run away before this happened. She still did. She was weak. She couldn't do this alone. What could a spoiled sixteen year old high school girl do against this kind of cruelty?

The thoughts assaulted her mind and raped her soul. Why was she so unable to let go of the nightmare? If she could just open her eyes she would leave this world behind. She would wake up in bed, surrounded by an army of stuffed animals, in her cutest little pajama's. She would try to scarf down breakfast before racing to school like she was Sonic the Hedgehog. Of course she would still be late, she usually was. She would get a lecture, possibly detention, but she would be home again before nightfall to repeat the process the next day. It may have been redundant but it was a hell of a lot better than that terrifying dream, that vision of loss and being chained to destiny like a slave.

Why couldn't she let go?

"_Serena, wake up_!!"

It was Molly's voice after all. It was becoming clearer now. She had come to wake her up from this nightmare. She had overslept again and her best friend had come to get her lazy butt up to go to class. Now that was a true hero!

What a terrible dream she had. But, being a happy go lucky girl meant not dwelling on what was and looking forward to what would be. The nightmare would be a memory once she had fully awakened.

And all she had to do was just open her eyes.

She felt Molly's hands on her body, grabbing her by the ribs to help lift her up. She was beginning to get the feeling back in her legs now and rose to her feet with an awkward stumble or two. She raised her eyelids slowly to welcome back the world that she knew and loved. Or, at least, endured. She saw Molly, her hero, first. But there was no smile on her beautiful face. Tears streamed down her face. Her incoherent rambling filled Serena's ears like a flood. She couldn't make out what the hell she was saying. Her face was covered in soot and was cut up and bloody. What did the girl get herself into now? There were so many questions, but before she could ask any of them Molly had hugged her so tightly that she could barely breathe. Molly's body was warm, and after such a terrible dream it felt extremely pleasant. Serena latched on to her as well, if for no other reason than to thank the hero for waking her from the dream. There was little time for relief though. The next words out of her friends mouths would change everything.

"I'm just glad you're okay!"

What an odd thing to say so suddenly.

"I'm fine, Molly. Why wouldn't I….." Serena started to reply as her eyes regained complete focus and the full scene was laid out before her.

There were fire trucks and police everywhere. She was in some kind of park. The trees and surrounding objects were set ablaze. On the ground were the bodies of at least a dozen people, some completely burnt, others torn to shreds or even in half completely. Officers were screaming at the on lookers, family members were desperately trying to get to their dead loved ones. They couldn't let go. Nobody ever really could. Cameras were flashing. Sirens were blaring. It was a state of destruction and confusion.

And inside the chest of one insignificant high school girl, a heart shattered into a thousand pieces.

"….be……"

Serena screamed out loud in agony. It was louder than anything else at the scene of this tragedy. The people stopped and stared as she pushed Molly away and fell to her knees crying.

And she kept screaming until she could do it no longer.

The dream was a reality, and reality was a nightmare.

**ONE DAY EARLIER**

"_They say that every legend has a beginning. Greatness doesn't just appear from nothing. In any good story there is a beginning and an end. And, to me at least, the best stories have the most unlikely of heroes. Heroes that are born into normality and become great. Without hardship, victory is meaningless. When you find my beloved Serenity remember that she will not be the same person you once knew. She will be born into normality along with the rest of the moon's children. Forgive her for not being the strength that you will need her to be. But have faith in her, Luna. Through hardship she will become great, and with victory her story will become legend. Have faith, my dearest friend."_

Those were Queen Serenity's last words. Luna had listened to them while watching her mentor pass away into whatever life waited for us in the end of this one. And through the tears and heartbreak that she suffered at the defining moment in her life, Luna had promised to find the lost princess, whenever and wherever she appeared in the future.

She had awoken to a strange new world with no memory of who she was. All she had was a jewel attached to a necklace she did not remember getting. She wandered through this strange world, unable to speak, unable to remember. Her inability to comprehend almost drove her mad when she found someone who suffered the same fate as her. Once the two came together the dull jewel shone brightly. The silence was obliterated, as the crystal would no longer be silent. The visions she experienced every night when she laid down to sleep told her of a terrible fate. She eventually gave into the crystal's will and was bathed in a white light that engulfed her very heart and soul. The truth became apparent to her and her mission became clear-find her princess. She had been searching ever since along with her companion and lover in a former life, Artemis. They had both thrown away their normal lives to fight the future together. Though their paths split and they each went their separate way, their mission remained the same and they knew they would see each other again when they found what they were looking for.

And now, as Luna stood outside the residence of the Tsukino family, it had all come full circle. Artemis and his charge Mina would be here soon and the battle would begin. The girl inside this house had to be prepared. But the question hung around Luna like a noose around her neck-

How would she tell this girl of her destiny?

She knew how crazy it sounded. She had denied it's existence for years. She could not even allow Serena 1/10th of that luxury. Should she go right up to the door and knock? Grab her on her way to school? How could she reveal the horrible truth that stalked them all from the shadows?

It was a few minutes before seven in the morning. Depending on the day Serena would be coming out of her door any moment to meet up with her friend for the walk to school, or be stretched out on her bed ignoring the wail of her alarm clock.

Luna was almost wishing for the latter. She hadn't really thought this thing through. If she scared the girl off from the start the earth would be doomed. She didn't have time to beat around the bush either. It was a truly complicated situation for someone who at one time in her new life merely lived to eat and lay around like a lazy cat.

The front door opened. Luna used the brick wall that lined the yard for cover. Serena walked right past her, completely unaware of her presence, as she made her way to the familiar place to meet Molly Baker. Luna had no choice. It would be better to sound crazy than to be silent.

"Excuse me, Ms. Tsukino?"

Serena turned around to greet the lovely young woman that had called her name.

"Yes?"

Luna stepped towards the teen and had to fight the urge to reach out and hug her tightly. She had to think of the right words to say. It had to be to the point but not so far fetched that it would frighten the girl. It had to be as far from awkward as possible.

"I…forgot just how beautiful you are."

Strike one.

"Excuse me?"

Luna tried to get her mind back on track but found herself stumbling all over her words.

"I… No, it's just… I haven't seen you in a thousand years, you see. I don't remember your legs being so long!" she said while looking down at Serena's long smooth legs that hung under her skirt.

"What!?!"

Strike two.

"I'm sorry! I don't mean for this to sound so weird it's just…I'm not really sure how to speak to you. You've grown… I didn't expect you to be so mature looking now. Look how big your chest has gotten! Last time I saw you they were….flat and…." she said while pointing square at Serena's breasts.

Serena covered what little chest she had with her books and started to walk away as fast as possible.

"Okay! Uh…yeah, thanks! I have to go!"

Strike three and she was out of there. She walked at a faster pace than when she was late for class hoping to ditch the weirdo that was surely following behind her.

"Wait! Serena! I'm sorry! This hasn't gone as well as I had hoped! Please, I have something to tell you!" Luna cried out as she gave chase. "Please! Just hear what I have to say!"

Serena slowed down, turned, and began to walk backwards.

"Okay, just…stay back. I appreciate the flattery, really I do, but you have to understand that I'm not that way. Not that there is anything wrong with that of course. I just--"

"Be quiet and listen! Chaos is coming. Do you remember the past? When you died a thousand years ago on the moon? Don't you remember me at all? I know it sounds insane, but you have to skip school today and come with me, or the world will be destroyed!"

Serena couldn't believe her ears. That was the most ridiculous thing she had ever heard. And she had listened to Molly's drunken explanation behind the popularity of Furbies and why they were tools of a fascist regime to brainwash children...whatever the hell that meant.

"Are you…like, high right now?"

Luna sighed. She knew it was going to be rough, and even she had trouble believing what she was saying.

"I'm not on drugs and I'm not insane. Now listen to me damnit. You were a child of the kingdom of the moon. The being that destroyed our civilization so very long ago is coming back to destroy this one too and only we can stop it. Please, you have to come with me."

She didn't know what to say. It was something you'd read in a comic book or in some generic Japanese anime. She had always wanted a special destiny, something to escape the monotony of the day to day California girl lifestyle. But it was one thing to daydream about the possibility. Hearing it out of the mouth of another just made it seem as weird as it really is.

Yet, at the same time, something was tugging on that little string across her heart. Her chest burned around this strange woman for some reason. She had been feeling so strange lately, like she was losing herself to someone else's will. Was this nonsense connected somehow?

"Get some help lady."

Luna grabbed Serena's arm as she turned to leave and was pushed to the ground for her troubles by the confused teenage girl.

Serena stared down at the woman that was creeping her out. Did she really just push her to the ground without even thinking? It wasn't like her at all. By all means she was a total girly girl that had never been in a single scuffle of any kind. She was a flirt, a ditz, and somewhat of a bitch depending on who you asked, but she was definitely not violent. What was happening to her!?

"I'm…sorry. I didn't mean… I have to go. Just leave me alone, okay? I have enough problems in life. I don't need the fate of the world resting there too." she said before sprinting off towards high school.

Luna stayed on the ground for a few moments. That had gone about as horrible as possible. What could she possibly do now? How would she convince this girl she was being truthful?

Unfortunately for Luna, and the rest of humanity, the truth would soon reveal itself.

Hovering high above the buildings of Southern California, Jadeite watched the ants below scurry about with their meaningless little lives, completely unaware of the fate that would befall them soon. He considered launching an attack right then and there on all of the humans that marched towards their destinations without purpose. That would surely draw the attention of those blasted girls.

But someone else had a better idea.

"Don't do it, brother."

Jadeite turned to see his younger sibling Jade levitating behind him. Needless to say the two were not a very close pair.

"What do you want? This is no time or place for children to play. I have work to do."

"I know all about your plan. Call down a rain of fire and destruction on everything in your path, kill without rhyme or reason. It's a flawed plan."

Jadeite scoffed.

"Don't lecture me. What would a child know about this? I'm going to draw out the moon kingdom's little whore of a daughter and destroy her before she has a chance to fully awaken. Cutting the head off of the snake will kill the body faster than anything else."

Jade disappeared and reappeared in front of his brother.

"You're right. But it doesn't take an adult to know that attacking randomly will do nothing in this situation. You have the element of surprise in your cards. Use it."

"What are you talking about?" Jadeite asked of his more intelligent sibling.

"We were released from our prison at the same time as those girls were reborn, were we not? Which means they have to be sixteen now, as we've had sixteen years of what we laughably call freedom."

"Get to the point, boy. I have no time for more of your talk of insurrection." the elder said, quickly losing his patience with the person trying to ruin his fun.

"Attacking a random intersection may be fun, but it's hardly useful in this case. We know the girl is somewhere in this area. We know she's sixteen. So why are you attacking these people that have nothing to do with anything? This girl has to be a student. There aren't that many schools in this part of the state and they're about to end their day. Why not direct your attention there? Killing randomly will only scare the brat away."

As much as Jadeite wanted to criticize Jade's argument, he knew it was true. A smile came across his face as the thoughts of death and pain swam around in his twisted mind.

"Maybe you're not as useless as I thought." he said before disappearing in a burst of light.

Alone, Jade watched the people below him for a moment. They walked together, spoke intimately, laughed, hugged, and kissed, amongst other things. All of which he hadn't felt in a thousand years. There was no intimacy in the dark kingdom that he was from. There was nothing but hate and distrust. He was a creature of hate. But did he hate these humans for their ability to love, or did he truly envy them?

Unable to watch them anymore, he disappeared. It was time to go back to the dark, dank, misery that he called home sweet home. Though, he found it harder and harder to leave the planet he had once called his own. It was a fact not lost on Queen Beryl, who even know kept the youngest brother under her watchful eye.

The pawns were beginning to move in unexpectedly amusing ways.

Elsewhere in the city teenagers filed out of their high school building with the kind of joy and enthusiasm that comes from freedom after hours of mental slavery.

Amidst the sea were Serena and Molly, attached at the hip as always. On the road to nowhere slowly they fashionably made their way past the crowds exiting.

"This place gets more annoying every single day. And we still have how many years before we get away? My brain hurts." Serena asked Molly, who was using her immense skill with a cell phone to send random text messages at an alarming rate.

"And then college."

Serena hung her head low.

"They're trying to beat us down so we give up on life early. So we won't push ourselves to the limit and strive to be shining stars in life!"

"Is it working?" Molly replied without looking away from her keypad.

"Hell yes it is, let's go to the mall."

"No can do. Julie and I are going to watch the high school basketball game tonight."

"Whaaaat? Since when were you interested in basketball?"

"Oh I'm not interested in the game. Julie has some crush on one of the players and she feels the need to, you know, get out there and cheer him on. Support the team. School spirit, hometown pride, yadda yadda yadda."

Serena shook her head.

"What did I tell you about the Seinfeld reruns? They weren't cool then. Not cool now."

"You're one to talk about lame programs. You might as well change your last name to Gilmore."

"I'll have you know that Rory and I--"

"Serena!"

The two girls looked around the busy area and spotted Serena's mother in her black SUV following behind them at an erratic pace. She had a look of complete terror on her face as her eyes burned holes through the two high schoolers.

"Mom? What's wrong?"

She pulled the vehicle over to the side of the road, nearly slamming into another car. This was completely out of character for a mother everyone had lovingly referred to as "cool."

"Serena, Molly, get in this car right now."

"What's wrong, Mrs. Tsukino? Did the school send you Serena's grades again?"

Tears welled up in the elder Tsukino's eyes as she forced the words out.

"There was a terrorist attack at a school not far from here. A lot of people are dead and I'm scared of what's going on. Now please get in this car right now. NOW!"

This was real. Serena and Molly asked no more questions and immediately climbed into the SUV. The blond teen slumped back in her seat. Her heart was racing and she was afraid it was going to burst out of her chest. It was the same feeling she had when confronted by that weirdo earlier in the day. She had been preaching about terrible things to come… Was this her doing? Was she trying to warn about an attack? What did Serena have to do with any of this? She was just a stupid school girl by all accounts. She knew nothing of politics, or war, or real suffering.

Serena glanced over at her mother. She had never looked that way before. It was terrifying. Her parents had always been a little apprehensive since the 9/11 attacks. To Serena that was a world far away from the one she lived in. It was a legend, a ghost story. That would all change now. Her normal little life was over.

In more ways than she would have ever believed.

As the three sped away from the school the rest of the students scattered to their own waiting cars after hearing of the news. Word of disaster spread quickly in a post 9/11 world.

Standing in the courtyard watching the madness was Luna, who looked up to the sky to watch the storm clouds gathering overhead. They were just normal clouds for now. But how soon would that change? Time was running out. This was the first major strike by the enemy but it would not be the last.

"What am I supposed to do, queen? Please tell me." she said to herself expecting no response.

Serena looked back at the school as her mother drove like a demon as fast as she could towards home. Her eyes set upon Luna and she felt her heart rise up to her throat. Something was very wrong and that woman held answers to questions she wasn't even sure of.

The question lingered for everyone involved in the story unfolding in that tiny California town-what happened now?

"_29 people are confirmed dead with over 100 others injured in what state officials are calling a daring daylight terrorist attack perpetrated by an unknown enemy. What we do know at this time is that this afternoon what appears to be a suicide bomber walked into this private school and what followed was a fiery trip through hell for the students that still lined its halls. The man, unidentified at this time, is believed to have been killed in the bombing. The governor of California will give a statement on today's tragedies in just a few moments. Please stay tuned to News Channel--_"

The TV clicked off without warning. The Tsukino household was completely silent. Mother and daughter sat together on the couch, the young girl's face buried in her mothers shoulder. On the floor was Serena's brother, who lightly punched the ground repeatedly while he tried to understand what exactly was going on. In his favorite chair was the head of the family.

With the remote held firmly in his hand he contemplated turning the television back on. He knew it was pointless. It was the same on every channel. Images of death, insanity, and fear coated every channel. More than anything he wanted to say something to his family. Something to ease their pain and relieve their paranoia. He could find no words to do so. Such words didn't even exist.

They all sat quietly, reflecting on their own lives and the events of the day. It was the kind of thing they had heard about every day on TV, in school, and from neighbors and coworkers. But it was a world away before what had happened earlier. Now it was in their very own backyard. The faces of the dead that were plastered all over television weren't nameless victims from a million miles away. These were the faces of children they had seen in their own neighborhood.

It was a parent's greatest fear. It could have been _his_ children.

Serena wiped the tears from her eyes and asked to be excused. She was taking this tragedy harder than anyone could have imagined. Part of it was because she felt responsible in a way. What if she had reported the ramblings of the psychopath earlier that morning? Could she have prevented this somehow?

She felt powerless. The loud mouthed diva had completely shut down.

Her room was pitch black as she entered. She had plans on throwing off her clothes and collapsing onto the bed. To hell with a shower, or homework, or anything other than an escape from this nightmare.

As she begin to pull her shirt and bra off she heard movement within the room, followed by the a burst of light as the lamp on her dresser seemed to turn itself on.

She quickly pulled her shirt back down over her face. It couldn't have been her dumb ass brother. There was no way he could have made it back to her room before her. Was it some pervert? Or someone even worse?! Movies she had seen advertised on Lifetime flashed in her mind. Was she going to be raped? Sold into slavery? Killed and harvested for organs?

Not this time. Standing in front of her, in the corner of the room like a child who had misbehaved, was Luna.

"I'm sorry to frighten you. I don't mean to."

Serena was shaking with fear and anger. She was just about to scream for her parents when Luna rushed over and covered her mouth with her hand.

"No! Please! I'm sorry I've invaded your home, it was never my intention. Will you just hear me out one last time? After that I promise I'll leave. You'll never see me again, I swear of it."

The teenage girl was hesitant, but eventually nodded. Luna took her hand away and sat down on the bed covered in a pink blanket adorned with bunnies.

"It was not supposed to be this way, I promise you."

"What are you talking about?" Serena asked as she shut her bedroom door.

"Your mother put her entire soul into her final act of kindness. Serena, I knew you as Princess Serenity a thousand years ago when your family reigned over the moon. You were my best friend and I was your advisor. I watched over you for hundreds of years before that fateful day when the earth's forces overtook your kingdom and I watched helplessly as that twisted queen of darkness slaughtered you and your true love."

"True love?" Serena asked, her mind racing with doubt, confusion, and a desire to hear more. It was like a fairy tale and for a moment, whether she believed any of it or not, the girl was enamored by the story.

Luna smiled.

"Yes. Endymion was his name. You and he were inseparable. It was your forbidden love that broke open the jealous heart of the priestess Beryl. It was then that she let the demon Metallia, a part of the great devourer Chaos, into herself. We were unprepared for the coming storm. While we devised ways to banish the destroyer Beryl amassed an army on Earth to overthrow your mother. The people of earth were envious of the immortal beings of the moon, and their weak minds allowed Beryl to brainwash them into hating us."

Serena felt like she could complete the story herself. It was scary, but this was actually _making sense_.

"What happened?"

"We fought. And…we lost. But hope was not lost along with our kingdom. Your mother, the beautiful and iron willed queen Serenity, sealed away the children of the moon and sent them into the future to live peaceful lives. She wanted a fresh start for us all."

"And the people of earth?"

Luna shook her head.

"Knowing only vengeance in their hearts they were sealed away in an eternal realm of darkness to live out their lives knowing only guilt, sorrow, and anger. Serenity underestimated Metallia's power. She thought the demon queen was sealed away forever but to save one she had to preserve the other. While we slept for a thousand years they were frozen in a state of agony and released on the day of your birth, the same day I was awoken."

"How old are you? I know it's a stupid question right now, but--"

"It's alright. I've been alive so long I've lost count to be honest. But counting my time on the moon and the sixteen years I've been alive here on earth… Seven hundred and sixty two."

Serena looked over the woman with the flowing hair and supermodel body with awe.

"You look really good for an infinity grandma."

Luna forced a smirk.

"Gee, thanks. I'm immortal, remember?"

"If you and I were immortal, how did I die?"

Luna shook her head.

"Immortal, not invincible. We can die just as easy as anyone else. We just live a very, very, very long time. Emphasis on the word very. And it's all thanks to the silver crystal."

"Silver crystal?"

Luna smiled brightly as she lifted the chain from her neck.

"Yes. The source of your kingdom's power and your birth right. I've waited a long time for this, Serena. This is a gift from your mother. She sends her love."

Luna handed the jewel over to Serena while fighting back tears. Just talking about the queen made her feel light headed and weak.

The skeptical girl put the necklace on and the jewel lit up brightly, easily overpowering the light coming from the lamp. She looked deep into the beautiful jewel and felt like she was trapped inside. She was excited but frightened. She wanted to take her eyes off of it but was mesmerized.

"And that is why I'm here, Serena. I know this sounds crazy. The light from that crystal showed me everything I needed to see when the time came. I'm sure it will do the same for you. The attack on the school today was not by some pathetic terrorist organization. It was the dark kingdom, the one that cost us our paradise, the very same one that is filled with the tortured revenants of the once honorable earth. They are after you princess, and they will not stop until you are dead. They intend to take this planet back and kill every good thing about it."

Serena felt empty suddenly, except for a pain that started in her stomach and spread through her whole body. It was as if she could feel the planet's pain.

"Why would they do something so terrible?"

Luna stared solemnly. The reunion was over. Her militant mind was coming back to her and it was time to prepare.

"Revenge. Jealousy. Greed. All of the things that make humanity what it is. These creatures aren't the same people that once guarded this planet. They are monsters now and they know not compassion or kindness. They are guided by demons and they were destroy everything until there is nothing left to destroy. And then they will move on to the next world, and the next, and on and on until there is nothing anywhere. Do you understand me?"

"How can I believe any of this? This is the really real world, not some storybook!"

"You don't have to believe a word of it. The truth will show itself soon and you won't be able to hide from it ever again."

Serena was upset now and more willing to fight than she had ever been. Unfortunately her aggression was directed at the wrong side in this war.

"Even if you are telling the truth, which you're not because you're just some fucked up weirdo with mental problems, I don't want to be apart of this!!"

"I'm sorry, but this is something you have to face, child. You will fight or you will die. This is your curse. Ignoring your destiny will doom existence itself. Can you live the rest of your short meaningless life with that on your soul?"

Serena fell against the wall and slid down as she cried her eyes out.

"I can't do this!"

Luna kneeled down and kissed the girl on her forehead. It was a feeling so similar to the both of them.

"Your mother has faith in you, and so do I. This is a path you have to follow on your own, to show yourself what reality is. I will be waiting. Use that light when you're confronted by the darkness. I'll find you after that, princess. Good luck my darling Serena."

"LEAVE ME ALONE!" the teenage mess screamed out as she closed her eyes and curled into a ball on the floor.

Her mother and father burst into the room to find their daughter sobbing uncontrollably and screaming out in agony. The day had taken such a toll on her that she couldn't fight it anymore. They had no idea just how bad it was inside of their little girl's mind. They prayed that she would tire herself out soon, before her mind unraveled into a mess that could no longer be fixed.

And Luna, who had struggled with the urge to apologize and hold Serena till everything was better, had escaped out of the window like some kind of cat burglar. She had to let what would happen just happen. It was the only way to save the world. She would perform her part in this story just as it was written for her, no matter how much it killed her inside.

The clock read eleven thirty six. Kenji and Barbara Tsukino, the loving parents of Shingo and Serena, sat at their kitchen table drinking coffee. They couldn't sleep while the world their children lived in was such a disaster. Their daughter had finally fallen asleep after hours of her crying fit. Their son had locked himself in his room and listened to his angry rock music until he finally gave up on feeling better and went to bed as well. And, as they often found themselves during troubling times, the lovers sat and talked about the things they could not change.

"She's not well." the mother said in between sips.

"There's nothing we can do about it. This is something she has to see for herself. The world is not a very nice place. The only thing we can do is explain why things happen when we can, and support her in whatever she chooses to do."

"I just hate seeing her that way."

Kenji smiled.

"Of course you do. You are her mother and you love her."

Barbara sighed and looked down the hall towards her little girl's room.

"I hope she always remembers that."

The two embraced as the midnight hour crept up on them. They needed sleep to prepare for another day, a day that would hopefully bring better emotions than this one. As they sauntered off to their bedroom Barbara looked into Serena's room and watched for a second as their beautiful little girl slept so calmly. She said a prayer for the half Asian girl as she continued on.

She knew she couldn't protect her daughter forever.

The following day started out as abnormally as ever for Serena. She woke up early, took a shower, and was dressed for school an hour before she had to be there. She said goodbye to her mother, met up with Molly in the usual place, and the two walked to school as if it were any other day.

Of course, it was as far from as any other day as possible. The alleged school bombing had shaken not only the community, but the state, and maybe even the entire country. School was cancelled in various parts of California in remembrance of those who had lost their lives the day before. Serena's high school remained open, though all classes were canceled and the students were meeting to honor the dead and open a forum for grievance.

Counselors were available for those who needed to talk about the tragedy. Teens walked around in large groups, seeming to forgo their cliques and collectives to spread support to everyone affected by the attack.

With the possibility of another assault at any time security was tight at the school. Police officers flocked around the students like moths to the flame. Time could not stand still forever. Eventually they would all have to return to their daily lives. Memories would last forever and questions would always linger, but for the students at Crossroads High there would be a new day.

But this would not be the beginning of peace for every student. A scared girl had recently been told of her unfortunate destiny of war and misery. Though she found the truth hard to swallow, she could feel it was true inside of her heart. But that didn't stop her from pretending it was nothing more than a nightmare. She had spent all morning convincing herself it was a bad dream caused by such an unimaginable tragedy. She told herself this, despite knowing the real reason behind the attack.

Serena sat on the ledge of the roof of the high school. She had been there most of the day watching the kids cry together. It was a nice spot to hide away in. It was quiet, the breeze was cooling, and she felt like she could see the entire world from her perch. In a way it made her feel bigger than she really was. For a moment she didn't feel like a frightened child.

Moments like that were few and far between however.

"Getting away from the madness?" a strange voice called out to her.

Serena stared forward.

"Just trying to get away. It's not working very well."

"I know how you feel. Sometimes I want to run as far away as I can but it doesn't do any good. You can't run from your destiny. It always ends up finding you and ruining whatever lie you've built for yourself."

The statement hit far closer to home than the entire tragedy at the other school. Serena slowly spun around to see who she was speaking to. Did they know something about her? Was this another of Luna's games?

"Did someone send you to speak with me?"

She came eye to eye with a handsome young man with long black hair and a haunting smile.

"No. Just trying to get away."

Serena remained cautious in front of the stranger. The two circled each other a bit, each looking over the other in almost flirtatious way.

"Who are you?"

"Jade. You?"

"…..Serena."

Jade stood where Serena had sat and looked over the schoolyard.

"I feel sorry for them. I shouldn't, but I do. Until recently I never knew I could feel such things. I haven't felt them in such a long time that I forgot those feelings were there to begin with. What an odd sensation. Not that it matters. I'm powerless to stop what's coming."

Serena raised an eyebrow.

"You mean destiny?"

Jade nodded and smiled at the girl.

"Don't I always?"

"I'm sick of that word. There is no such thing as a predetermined life!"

"You sound like someone burdened by their own life. Don't worry kid. You won't have to worry much longer. None of them will. Although…I do feel sorry for them." he said as he gazed out over the sea of students once more.

Serena clutched the necklace Luna had given her the night before and slowly inched her way closer to the young man.

" Because of what happened?"

"No," he said in a solemn voice, "because of what's about to happen."

"What are you talking about?"

Jade waved at his new little friend.

"Goodbye Serena. I hope your next life treats you better. I really do."

He turned his back to the ledge and began to walk backwards over it. Serena reached out to grab hold of the smiling man before he fell but came up short. Time slowed as she watched Jade fall off the roof and to a certain demise. Between this strange occurrence and Luna's insanity Serena began to wonder if she was a magnet for psychopaths now.

She gathered all the strength in her heart to look over that ledge. She had never seen a dead body before. Her father had always told her the world was a terrible place but up until the past day she had never realized how cruel it could be. Would someone really choose to end their own life rather than face their own destiny?

Would _she_?

She peered off of the building to find nothing-no body, no flock of students looking at a corpse, just plain nothing. Her life in the Outer Limits was getting stranger and stranger by the day.

As she watched the ground below she heard what sounded like an airplane that was coming dangerously close to the school. It was loud to the point of deafening. A tremendous wind began to blow, nearly toppling her over the rooftop as well. A light behind her was becoming brighter and brighter till it was practically blinding her.

"Shit……what else?" she asked herself.

At that moment, a ball of energy smashed into the ground in front of her. She watched in horror as students became enveloped in a white light and then vanished once it disappeared. Those that weren't caught in the immediate blast were sent flying in various directions. One student, a boy who was in a grade higher than her, was launched into a nearby wall, snapping his neck in half on impact. A girl Serena had been lab partners with last year was impaled on a nearby sign post. People were fleeing for their lives as the sound of another attack grew louder and louder.

Serena looked to the sky to see a lone figure standing against the sun. In front of him, seeming to come from the sun itself, came another ball of energy that smashed into the school building, tearing it in half. Parts of the building flew everywhere from the collision and the ground beneath her feet seemed to shift altogether. There was no escaping destiny this time. In an instant Serena was thrown from the roof and to the ground far below her.

The fall was only a few seconds, but for the poor girl taking the ride it felt like hours. In that moment between the sky and the ground she thought about everything that was important to her.

She thought about her parents and how they would be killed emotionally once they found out their eldest child fell to her death in another senseless attack. She could see her mother crying over her body in her casket, assuming there was enough of her to show at a funeral. She would miss out on her brother's descent into puberty and all of the problems that come with it. He would grow up without fully realizing how she was the greatest sister to ever live. Her father, a man who prided himself on being emotionally stable in the worst conditions, would break down and cry for the first time that she had ever known. It was amazing to her that she never realized before how one death could ruin so many lives.

And then there was Molly. She wasn't even sure if her best friend had survived the attack to begin with. The two had parted ways early in that morning when Molly had found Julie and the two went to be with their own little social group. Serena had turned down the offer to join as she felt she had some soul searching to do after the events of the night before. She hadn't told Molly anything about the strange turn of events in her life. How could she? She didn't even believe it herself. Her friends would all think she was a certified lunatic.

And now, through all the secrets and lies between loved ones, there was confusion and worry. She hoped Molly was as far away from the scene as possible. She couldn't stand to lose the only girl that had befriended her when her family settled in California and accepted her as a human being and not just a half Asian girl who only knew a few sentences of broken English. The two had always been inseparable and now there was a very good chance the last thing she would have ever said to her best friend was 'I want to be alone' when Molly was reaching out to her.

Serena closed her eyes and tears fell right along with her. The impact was excruciating. She felt like every bone in her body broke at once. Thankfully it wasn't the last thing she ever felt. The intense pain running through her body told her one very important thing-she was still alive.

But that might not last long.

There was that damn sound again-another attack was coming! She knew she had to get away from there as soon as possible or her joy over not being dead would be short lived. She couldn't feel her legs at first, but as she tried to wiggle her toes the feeling began to come back. She slowly stumbled to her feet. Using the building wall as a brace she made her way to what she hoped would be safety. But as she got closer to a break in the schoolyard fence that meant an exit from the bombing zone she stopped.

Against her better judgment Serena looked at the chaos she was trying to run away from. It was a disaster scene straight out of a Godzilla movie. Fires raged across the campus from whatever the hell they were being shot at with. There was busted glass everywhere, along with the dead bodies of people she had called friend.

Suddenly, Serena saw a girl began to move in the middle of the rubble. Not everyone was dead, but they sure as hell would be once that third attack hit and destroyed whoever didn't have the ability to get away.

Serena felt powerless. She wanted to run and desert everyone to keep the lies she had built for herself alive. But to do so would be to turn her back on people she cared about and letting them die so she could remain a frightened child. But, as a frightened child, what could she do against this mysterious force that was intent on killing everyone?

The necklace Luna had given her began to glow again. A feeling of calm came over the girl as a slideshow of memories flashed through her head faster than she could make sense of them. She saw a castle, bloodshed, a good looking man in armor, and a woman that looked strangely enough almost exactly like her, just a bit older. The woman held her and told her not to be afraid of dying as tears ran down her pale face and onto Serena's. The woman's words were soothing and for possibly the first time in her life Serena felt at peace and unafraid.

Snapping back to reality by the sound of another ball of energy screaming towards her, the high school student turned would be heroine walked into the middle of the chaos and looked towards the mass of destruction coming towards where she was standing. She felt the sorrow and fear of everyone around her. They were afraid of dying. They were afraid of never seeing their families again. They might have all been different in their own way, different races, different personalities, maybe even from different countries. But they were all humans. They all had a right to live, to grow, and to change the world. And Serena made a conscious decision at that moment to defend that right with her own life.

Summoning some other worldly power that she had never known before, Serena became enveloped in a warm light that shone brightly. A pillar of that same light shot into the sky far above her, obliterating the ball of energy that was moments away from destroying everything she yearned to protect.

Jadeite, high above the scene of catastrophe, could do nothing to avoid being hit by the same beam of light. It ripped through his body, crushing him like a can under the wheel of a tire. He couldn't breathe, couldn't think, couldn't do anything other than suffer a pain so intense that he almost begged for death. A few antagonizing moments later the light vanished, and Jadeite fell towards the Earth like an angel descending from heaven. His mission would have been over quickly had it not been for the intervention of Jade, who appeared suddenly and grabbed hold of the last surviving member of his family in mid air.

"It's alright brother, I have you."

Jadeite struggled to lift his head and look at his sibling.

"Who……..did……" he managed to say before going unconscious from his injuries.

Jade stared down at Serena's glowing form for a moment before disappearing with his brother. He would take him back to the Dark Kingdom to recuperate and figure out what the hell he would do now. Things would change after this. He had already made his decision already before this revelation.

But, in the face of adversity, could he go through with it?

Back on Earth, in the middle of the broken and the dead, Serena's light faded away. She closed her eyes one last time as all of the strength in her legs gave out. She collapsed to the cold ground again, face first into the dirt. As she lay there, almost certainly dying from her own injuries, she thought about all of the people that she had saved. She did what she never thought possible. She took a stand. She faced her destiny and was proud of herself for doing it, despite the outcome. She would die a hero instead of a coward. It was a great way to go out, she had to admit.

The pain was gone now. It was replaced by a dreamy state of peace. Was this death? Was this the reward for her selflessness?

Or, as she had hoped all along, was it all a dream? It would certainly make more sense. Tales of destiny, flying men and super powers, those were all from comic books and bad Sci Fi channel movies. She was just a little girl.

Just a sleepy, starry eyed, care free little girl who worried more about having a bigger chest than the safety of the world. The dream would be over soon and she could go back to that monotonous world of insecurity and awkwardness. What a wonderful world it would be this time!

"_Serena_!"

She heard a voice. It sounded like Molly's. She must have overslept again! Leave it to her best friend to be her hero and come get her so they wouldn't be late for Haruna's first hour class. If she had to listen to the old witch's lecture one more time she was going to commit suicide.

"_Serena wake up_!"

Serena smiled in her sleep. In a second she would open her eyes and welcome her friend with open arms. After this nightmare she would throw all homophobic fears out of the window and pull Molly into bed with her and just hug her tightly and never let go.

She couldn't wait to open her eyes for what would feel like the first time. The nightmare was all behind her now and she could get back to what really mattered-high school, guys, and dreams of the future.

All she had to do was open her eyes.


	4. Chapter 4

-1"What we have here is in an appalling failure."

Jade put the wet hand towel on his brother's forehead as he endured the insults being hurled at him by one of the other kings of the Dark Kingdom.

"To think that the mighty Jadeite would be so easily defeated. Such a shame. I can't say that I'm surprised by this revelation. After all, weakness and cowardice runs in this family, does it not?"

The younger brother dabbed at his elder siblings head with the cloth, wiping the sweat and blood from him while trying to ignore what could become a very bad situation.

"Would you please stop it with your rebellious nature, Nephrite?" said a pale beauty with long dirt blonde hair that was tied into a ponytail. "People in glass houses shouldn't throw stones."

The lone wolf of the Dark Kingdom stood from his throne in the four general's wing of the castle and threw his glass chalice to the ground, causing it to shatter near the prone body of Jadeite. The man known as Nephrite was tall with broad shoulders and long hair that resembled a 17th century warlord's. He was ruggedly handsome with the kind of look you'd see on a romance novel. His good looks were a mask for his true nature.

Nephrite was anything but romantic.

"Watch your tongue, harlot, before you find it pulled through the hole I put in your throat!"

The object of his aggression was called Zoisite. In her former life she had been a grand sorceress and advisor to Prince Endymion. Beautiful, thin, and seductive, she was nothing more than another pawn in the sick game that Metallia was playing with fate, now.

"You? Touch me? Only in your dreams, barbarian. Why don't you stop mocking your comrade and do something useful? Like, I don't know….suicide?"

Nephrite looked down on Jadeite's broken body and scoffed.

"He is no comrade of mine. And neither are you, witch. I have my own agenda."

Zoisite put her hands under chin as her eyes grew big with feigned interest.

"Oh! And what would that be? I'm dying to know your secrets!"

"I've seen how you learn secrets and you should know I have no interest in laying with filthy dogs." Nephrite said with a satisfied grin.

"You arrogant little ant! I'm going to slit you from ear to ear someday and give you the biggest smile you've ever had. Nobody insults the great Zoisite!" 

"Shut up, both of you!"

Nephrite and Zoisite put their hatred aside for a moment as they looked down at Jade, who was still tending to his injured family.

"Don't you know what this means? The princess has awakened to her power! Even in her weakened state she managed to cripple Jadeite with just one attack."

"The boy is right."

Zoisite and Nephrite turned to face Queen Beryl, who had been listening to their bickering from the shadows of the demonic castle. Zoisite immediately fell to her knees in respect, while Nephrite slowly lowered himself on one knee and gave a half hearted nod.

"My queen! What would you have your servants do?" asked the always-willing-to-please Zoisite.

"Succeed, for once! You four have been searching for Luna for years and have come up short! Now, because of your incompetence, she has made contact with the princess of the Moon Kingdom and our victory is in jeopardy!"

Zoisite shook her head.

"I assure you, my queen, I will find and kill this princess myself. Jadeite was weak, but I will not fail you!"

"Spare the queen your false hope. Jadeite might have been young but he was a stronger warrior than you will ever be. You would stand no chance against the kind of power that did this to him." Nephrite said, visibly angering the always volatile sorceress.

"He's right. Serenity's power flows through her daughter's veins. We cannot fight her directly in our current state. I must grow stronger if I am to kill the princess and take back our world! Nephrite and Zoisite, you two are to begin collecting energy for our great cause. Slaughter the traitorous Earth people and harvest their souls to make me stronger. Enjoy yourselves while you do it. Remember that they inherited the planet that you suffer for!"

"Yes, your majesty, it will be my pleasure! Try to keep up with me…Neanderthal." said Zoisite before disappearing in the midst of a shower of rose pedals and cackling laughter.

Nephrite looked at Jade and smiled.

"Vile woman. Then again, aren't they all?" he said while glancing at Beryl from the corner of his eyes.

He made his way out of the room without paying respect to his queen, a fact not lost on the creature called Beryl. But that was another situation for another day. There were more pressing matters at hand.

"Jade. I want you to find out who did this to your brother. He was reckless and his assault has cost us momentum. Do not repeat his mistakes. Become the shadows and do not reveal our secrets to anyone! You cannot fight her directly, your brothers arrogance has shown that she is far too powerful already. So you will have to use…other means. Find her, befriend her, and when she's looking into those beautiful eyes of yours I want you to stab her through the heart. Understand?"

Jade looked down at the lifeless body of his dear brother and could almost feel a tear forming in his left eye. Since his encounters with the humans of earth he had begun to change. Not too long ago he could have looked at his brother's broken heap and not given his death a second thought. Was it that girl he had come into contact with that had unlocked his soul? He knew she had mysterious powers, but was it possible that she could actually fight the darkness that had corrupted them all?

This mission would give him a chance to see what she was capable of with his own eyes.

"Yes, queen."

Jade knew who had done this to his sibling. He had actually carried on a conversation with her moments before Jadeite had launched his last attack on her high school. His brother had succeeded in revealing the true identity of their enemy, but it was a secret Jade planned on keeping for a while longer until he discovered everything he desired to know.

He had a feeling that Beryl had already peered into his reforming soul and discovered his deception. She had known about Jadeite's would be betrayal and more than likely knew of his schemes as well. For whatever reason she hadn't called him on it yet, though. For all he knew she had another one of her hellish minions following him with the order to destroy him when the time was right, just like she ordered of him when it came to his own brother.

But those thoughts of death and betrayal would have to wait. There was work to be done. There was a girl to find, and a brother to avenge. Though he was beginning to see a light at the end, there were still miles of darkness in the tunnel to his heart.

"I'll snap her neck like a twig."

Weeks had passed since the tragedy at Crossroads High School. Thanks to an amateur cell phone video of what appeared to be a single man floating in front of the sun the world had declared the incident to not be a terrorist attack. What exactly it was became the subject of legends. An angel? A demon? Or some super villain straight out of an X-Men comic? The country became fascinated with the possibilities. Suddenly the entire country knew about the sleepy little California town and it had become one of the hottest tourist spots in America.

What people seem to have forgotten were the lives that were lost that dark day. And what they could never know was the bravery of one young girl that saved hundreds more.

Serena Tsukino had been changing lately. Her sexy little skirts and cute tank tops turned into boring old blue jeans and t shirts. Her happy go lucky demeanor seemed forced. What was once a free spirit seemed more like a stage act now. She had stopped going to the mall with her friends every night and instead stayed in her room whenever possible, as if she were afraid of something, or someone.

Her mother, while concerned about her change in attitude, was just relieved that her little girl was still alive. So many parents could not say the same after that terrible day.

Things might change for the better for her daughter today. Though their school was nearly burned to the ground and would require months of labor to rebuild, the surviving students had been separated into groups and accepted into various other schools in the area. Serena was always a popular girl and the life of the party. Maybe stepping back into that familiar setting would restore some of the happiness that her mother no longer saw in her eyes.

Today was the first day of her new school life. For as much as she felt screwed over lately, fortune had smiled on her in one very important way. Molly Baker, her best friend and confidant, had been put in the same group with her. They would endure the new school together, just like the old days, when the two teenage hotties would rule the social scene with an iron fist.

Things would **never** be like that again. Not for Serena, anyway. After weeks of brooding alone she had finally come to accept what Luna had told her as truth. But that didn't mean she was ready to accept her destiny. Her encounter with the mysterious attacker at her high school taught her that she was in no way ready to be a savior. She was lucky to be alive.

Yet, as she sat on her bed holding on tightly to her stuffed rabbit, she didn't feel lucky at all.

There was a knock at the door of the Tsukino home. Barbara Tsukino, the matriarch of the family, opened the door and greeted the visitor with a hug.

"It's good to see you again, Molly."

The undeniable charm of Molly Baker shone brightly through her warm smile.

"You too, Mrs. Tsukino. Feels like I haven't been here in forever."

"Almost."

"Is Serena ready for the big day?"

"I don't think she's ready to leave this house yet. But she can't stay in her room until the end of time. As much as I'd like to lock her up and keep an eye on her for the rest of her life, I couldn't let her do that to herself. That's no way for her to live. I'm hoping this new school will help bring her out of the shell she's crawled into lately."

"Once Serena gets back in a crowd and everyone starts paying attention to her again I'm sure she will. What happened to us was…unimaginable. I struggled with it myself, but I'm starting to see the old Molly in the mirror when I walk by now. Serena will get there."

Barbara nodded.

"You're wise beyond your years, kid. I'm glad Serena keeps you around."

Molly giggled at the statement.

"She doesn't have a choice. I'm clingy!"

Serena's mother sighed and patted Molly on top of her head. "Why couldn't you have been born a boy? At least then my daughter could have a guy I approve of."

"As boy crazy as I am, I don't think your daughter would have much of a chance with me. Now, Shingo on the other hand…"

Barbara laughed and opened the door wide for Molly to enter.

"In a few years he's all yours. The sooner you take him off my hands the better!"

"Now now ma'am, one Tsukino is all I can handle at a time."

Molly turned to the left to spot Serena making her way out of her room for what was probably the first time in a week.

"And speak of the devil!"

Serena gave a weak smile to the greatest friend she had ever known. Molly's mere presence would be enough to send her into a fit of happiness at one point in her life. Now, she just felt like crying all of the time. She wanted things to get better. She wanted to be the vapid girl she had once been, but now the weight of the world was on her shoulders, almost quite literally.

How do you enjoy something as simple as a friend's presence when you have to save an entire world?

"Ready?" Molly inquired with a big cheesy grin that she hoped would inspire some joy.

Serena lifted her yellow backpack over her shoulder and walked past her mother and her best friend to wait at the end of their driveway for the bus to come pick them up. She didn't say a word to either of them as she did so.

Molly shared a look of concern with her best friend's mother. Things were bad and getting worse.

Not only were the people around them changing, but so was the season. It was getting colder in California as the months fell off the calendar like leaves from a dying tree. Winter was coming soon, at least, what the natives of the state called winter. Serena had seen far worse when she had lived in Pennsylvania for what seemed like all of a month. As she and Molly made their way towards their new school she could tell that her best friend was completely unaccustomed to such weather. It was only in the mid fifties and the young Ms. Baker was already sneezing and sniffling.

"Mom says it's going to be the coldest winter in years." Molly said to a completely oblivious Serena. The two had chosen to walk to school from a bus stop that was only a few blocks from it. They had become so used to walking together that a little problem like the new building being in another town wasn't about to stop them.

Still, the conversations were usually a little more lively than this.

"I don't doubt it, either. I know you were a snow rabbit in your old city but I'm very much a beach bunny."

Serena stared forward as she walked. She didn't look away, she didn't say a word.

"You gonna show me how to snowboard if we get a blizzard?"

Nothing. Molly was starting to feel like Serena looked-completely alone.

"…so I let Joey fuck me yesterday after basketball practice."

Even with more pressing matters like the fate of the world in her hands, that statement deserved mucho attention. Serena's eyes grew wide as she slowly turned and stared at her best friend.

"You did WHAT?"

Molly laughed and skipped a little while she walked.

"I thought that would get your attention."

She began to feel a tad uncomfortable as Serena continued to stare at her in disbelief. She had hoped her best friend would recognize a statement designed to shock with no truth behind it. Obviously, that was not the case. Serena's inability to decipher her off the wall comment made Molly wonder if she give off those kind of vibes. Maybe it was time to lower the hemline on those skirts.

"…I didn't sleep with anyone! What kind of a whore do you think I am? Jesus, Serena! I'm just trying to get your attention. You look like a zombie over there! When are you going to accept what happened and move on? I know it's tough, but it's behind us. We're okay, got it? It's over."

Serena clasped the necklace Luna had given her tightly in her hand and sighed. She hadn't seen the mysterious women since that fateful day when her world came crashing down around her.

Literally.

"Not for all of us." she whispered to herself as she caught her first glimpse of her new high school.

It was large, with lots of windows and about a billion students walking into it. It was at least twice the size of their last school. As much as she hated to admit it, Serena missed her old building. It may have been a prison, but at least it was her prison. She knew it like the back of her hand. This place was a whole new nightmare. Who knew what kind of jackasses she would have to face in this far away hell.

"Ready for an adventure?" Molly asked.

Serena nodded, then stopped walking. She turned to her friend and hugged her as tightly as possible. The sudden show of affection after what seemed like an eternity of silence caught Molly by surprise. Still, she returned the hug with a rib shattering embrace of her own. It had been a long time coming.

"I'm sorry Mol'. I don't mean to be so vacant lately. I just have a lot on my mind. I'm sure I'll be back to…normal…in no time."

Molly smiled. It was the kind of smile that reassured her own heart and made her feel like things would be okay. It was the first time she had felt that way in weeks and it was a welcome change.

"You? Normal? I'll believe it when I see it."

The two laughed together for the first time in ages as they held one another. It was a perfect moment between BFF's that couldn't be ruined…

…except by the trouble making punk princess that Serena had gotten into it with a few days before the nightmarish attack on their school.

The girl, tall and busty, with long brown hair accented by pink streaks and eye liner dark enough to earn her a spot in My Chemical Romance, laughed at the two as she walked by them on her way to class.

"Jeez, get a room you two. This isn't San Francisco."

Serena clenched her fist in rage as she watched the girl skip her way into the main building of the high school. She couldn't believe her luck that in a handful of new high schools that her classmates could have possibly ended up in, she got stuck in the same one as the uber-bitch.

"Not her! Which God did I piss off so much to get stuck in the same school as her AGAIN?"

Molly shrugged as the two followed suit.

"Let it go. Technically, you started it a long time ago with her, and from the looks of her, she could totally kick your ass for it if she wanted to. Can't you two just put this stuff behind you and be friends?"

"Friends? With her?" Serena asked in a sarcastic tone. "I'd rather be friends with a vacuum cleaner."

Molly flashed a mischievous grin.

"Sounds naughty. I didn't know you were that hard up for a boyfriend!"

"You are such an idiot!" Serena replied as she pushed the rich girl away from her.

"Come on, Melvin is going to meet us for a snack before class. And you know how he gets when you keep him waiting."

Serena rolled her eyes. She hadn't seen that little geek in ages. Melvin was the kind of kid you laughed at in grade school and tried your best to avoid in high school. He was loud, annoying, and didn't seem to accept his place at the bottom of the pecking order. Still, there was a confidence in himself that made Serena a tad bit jealous. That guy didn't seem to have a problem with who he was in life. She wished that she could remember what that felt like. Ever since that day she felt like a hundred different people at once, and all of them were scared of what was going to happen. There was peace now, but for how long?

At night she could swear she heard footsteps in her room. There were shadows dancing around on her walls, trying their best to escape the streetlight outside. Luna could show up at any time and ruin any sense of stability that she had been trying to build for herself. She was even more frightened by who else could show up. How many creatures of the darkness were out for her blood now? What did they look like? What could she do against them? Before she closed her eyes and something took over her body, some kind of will that wasn't her own. As nice as it sounded, her mother taught her that just closing your eyes and ignoring the world would not make it go away.

As weird as it sounded, she wished Luna was there right now. She could really use some of that guidance that she so vehemently ignored before.

She wondered if Luna knew how to deal with overly aggressive nerds as well…

"What's he going to do? Summon his void walker? I don't know why we hang out with him. It can't be good for our reputation. Why should we lower our standards to raise his?"

"It's good to spread our popularity to the less fortunate. We're like missionaries."

Whatever inner fire of good will the girls felt like spreading would be doused by the awkwardly familiar sound of one very deprived teen.

"HEY GUYS! I just got to level 40 last night and you know what that means!"

Serena and Molly looked up the stairs leading to the entrance to find Melvin Butler standing for all to see in a hoodie embroidered with the Alliance's symbol from the pop culture phenomenon World of Warcraft.

"FIRE HORSE!" he yelled as he held up a screenshot from the game he had printed out and enlarged showing his summoned horse from the game.

"Molly, shut him up right now before anyone sees him."

"In you go, nerdlinger!" Molly yelled as she pushed the boy through the entrance doors and into the halls of their new learning grounds.

Against their better judgement, the girls walked through the wide double doors after him and into an unknown world of possibilities and surefire disappointments with embarrassment and some sense of unwarranted optimism. And neither the troubled teen with the dyed blonde hair, the red headed mallrat, or the man who could claim to be a gnome warlock in another world noticed the man watching them from the steps below.

Jade glared at Serena as she disappeared into the sea of students. His eyes glowed with a blood red hue for a moment as the hatred in his black heart swelled.

"You can't hide from me now…princess."


	5. Chapter 5

-1_Hi again…_

_I feel like it's been ages since I have written in this. I thought I was over using this whenever I was upset. I have friends, great friends, that I feel like I can tell everything to now. I don't have to hide my words in this book because I don't speak the same language, or because everyone looks at me like some kind of freak because my eyes are a little more narrow and my skin's not the same. I thought I was finally accepted as a normal girl. _

_Well, guess who is a freak again? Guess who is going to be judged and cast out of a normal life because of who she is, again?_

_I hate this. I feel so alone right now. I have great friends that I can tell anything to. But how do I tell them about this? How do I tell them that I'm really the reincarnated soul of a princess from the fucking moon that died a thousand years ago in a war that erased entire civilizations? Better yet, how do I explain to them that those same creatures that destroyed my world then are back to kill me again? Or that there is a monster the size of entire planets coming to feed on Earth and turn it into a wasteland, like it has to every other planet in our solar system?_

_Better yet. How do I explain to the mothers and fathers of everyone that died at Crossroads that its all my fault? Do I look them in the eyes and tell them how their kids, innocent people who have nothing to do with this, were killed because I'm a coward?_

_It all sounds insane. I think I'm slipping further and further into madness because I'm writing these words down with complete sincerity. I know now that I'll never just be Serena. I'll always be something wrong. _

_And so, my trusted friend, I turn to you once again .You're the only one that can ever know what I really am. Please keep the secrets of the sorry ass Asian girl who will never be normal. If they find out they'll all leave me. _

_I don't want to be alone. _

_Not again. _

_I'd rather die._

_I don't know what I'm going to do. If they come after me again someone is going to piece it together. I got lucky before and no one saw me try to be a hero. It was a stupid mistake. I didn't feel like myself. I should have ran away and got help. _

_They're going to find out. I know they will._

_Sometimes I think I should run away. I have to get as far away from California as I can. I could start over, somewhere I can be normal again, where she can't find me and fill my head with stories about what I was and what I have to become. _

_I don't want to leave, though. I love my family and if I disappeared it would break them. I couldn't go a day without Molly. She was the first person to ever look at me like a real person and not some foreigner. She didn't care how broken my English was. She didn't care if my family sat on the floor when we eat. She saw me for me. How can I turn my back on her?_

_I want to cry. I just want things to be the way they were before. _

_Where are you, Luna? Don't leave me like this. Please. I'm sorry I pushed you away. _

_I'm scared. _

Serena Tsukino's hand trembled as she wrote those last few words down in the journal that laid on the desk in front of her. Her mother had gotten it for her when they had first come to America so she would feel like she had someone to write to. She felt so alone those first few years in the states. Her English was terrible and the pack of wolves that were called her classmates made her feel like a freak of nature. Her journal was all that kept her heart together in those dark days.

Now, years later, she was in the process of becoming a grown independent woman. She was beautiful, her chest was finally starting to reach levels that made her proud of that one shirt her mother was not fond of her wearing, and she was finally stepping up in school so she could be more than what anyone ever gave her credit for.

But, after all of her efforts to fit in and grow physically and mentally, she found herself staring down at that same lonely book. She had tears in her eyes just like when she was younger. And, appropriately, she felt like a scared little girl again.

Someone once said time healed all wounds. It had been weeks since the tragedy at her former school and the gash in her heart was still pouring blood.

"Earth to clueless girl. Class was over like five minutes ago and you're still taking notes. What are you writing? Love letters to Melvin?"

Serena wiped the tears from her eyes before Molly could see them. She was hovering over the Asian's left shoulder trying to sneak a peak at a very personal journal entry. Serena quickly slammed the book shut and stuffed it away in the backpack on the floor next to her desk.

"Yeah, right. I'm totally swooning over a guy that sleeps with a replica broadsword over his bed with the Scarlet Crusade covers on it."

Molly stood up right and thought about that for a second.

"I'm not even sure how he pays for those games. He doesn't have a job and his parents are teachers. They're practically on welfare," she said as she sat in the seat next to her best friend, "And you know, I hear he keeps that broadsword as protection from love sick girls after his mad sex skills."

"Who told you that?" Serena asked, unsure if she really wanted to know the answer.

"He did once when we were hanging out at his house. In between dungeons."

"I don't know what's scarier, that he would possibly believe that to be true, or that you were alone with him in his house."

Molly shook her head.

"Oh we weren't alone. His guild was online at the same time. He barely spoke two words to me. Who has time for hot girls when the horde is attacking Goldshire, you know?" 

Serena eyed her friend very carefully. Something was definitely amiss here.

"…you don't, you know…like him, do you? I mean he's a friend and all, when no one is around, but you don't actually, LIKE him do you? Like in a funny feeling down below kind of way?"

Molly went into a defensive rage the likes of which had never been seen before.

"WHAT? Are you serious? I can't believe you would even ask me that! What kind of a girl do you think I am? I'm not some brain dead online junkie with nothing better to do than daydream about the local nerd and slaying dragons with him on a Saturday night while real people go out and do real people things. Christ, Serena, give me some credit!"

Serena smiled at the distraught girl.

"……is it really that obvious?"

She nodded.

"Shit!" Molly exclaimed. This could be the end of every social aspect of her life that she had been building ever since she learned about the term 'popularity.' "I swear I didn't mean for this to happen. Remember when he had that major crush on you? When he told me about it I actually felt jealous. I thought maybe if I spent more time with him I'd realize what an insignificant life form he really is, but his stupid charm and positive attitude just keeps drawing me in. Plus he has really nice eyes…behind the four inch glasses, I mean."

"You know this is suicide, right? Go out with him and you can kiss your hopes and dreams goodbye."

"You're being a little harsh aren't you? It'd be nice to date a guy who doesn't get wasted at his friends house and try to grab all over me. It'd be nice to be with, you know, a gentleman."

Serena packed up her books and stood up.

"I never really thought of him as a gentleman. But to be fair, I've never really thought about him."

Molly grinned from ear to ear as she twirled her red hair around her index finger.

"I guess you're right. I don't know what I was thinking." she said as her face began turning as red as her hair.

Serena stared at the girl with an eyebrow raised and a mind full of questions that she absolutely did not want answers to. She knew that Melvin was a giant elevator that only went down when it came to the ladder upwards in social status. Molly was just blinded by that stupid voice inside of her head that always seemed to get her in trouble. Still, Serena couldn't help but feel jealous at the smallest things nowadays. While she was struggling to get a grasp on who she really was, her best friend was falling in love.

Even if it was with a complete loser.

"Ms. Tsukino! Ms. Baker!"

Serena and Molly turned towards the familiar voice calling from behind them. To their amazement it was one of their teachers from their former high school, Patricia Haruna. She was a tall curvy woman in her early thirties who still turned heads with ease. Though Serena had a general dislike for her, she also had a begrudging respect for the woman that made her life a living hell on a daily basis.

"Ms. Haruna? What are you doing here?"

"I transferred here along with you students. With the influx of all of these kids the school needed extra help, and I was happy to volunteer. Teaching is my life and I didn't want to sit at home until they rebuilt Crossroads, so here I am. It's good to see you girls again!"

Serena and Molly each gave a subtle groan.

"You too, Ms. Haruna. Hope…I'm in your classes…or something. Anyway, I have to get going! I told Melvin I'd explore the school with him during lunch. See ya!" Molly said with a cheerful smile as she practically ran away from her friend and the teacher.

"MOLLY! Remember what we talked about!" Serena yelled down the hall, hoping to save someone she loved from blowing her social life's brains out.

As she watched her only ally in this confrontation escape down the hall, her nemesis stepped in close to her and put a hand on her shoulder. Serena turned to Haruna, who had as serious a look on her face as she had ever shown. It wasn't the usual 'you're an idiot and did something wrong' face either, this actually seemed sincere and heartfelt.

"Ms. Tsukino. I know these past few weeks have been tough on you. Being at ground zero when that horrible attack was made and watching your friends suffer has obviously taken a toll on you. At a time like this school seems insignificant, but please believe me when I tell you that these are the most important years of your life. We both know you've never actually been a terrific student, but I believe you are a terrific person. I want to help you readjust to a normal life and maybe improve your grades before you slip too far."

"_Normal person_," Serena thought to herself. That would truly be a miracle.

"I know a student here who has helped others that I've sent to her for tutoring. She's a brilliant girl, in your same grade level, and like you and I she knows what it's like to be of Japanese ancestry while living in America, so I think you two can relate to each other. Her name is Ami Mizuno, and I told her we would be stopping by later today after school to talk to her. At least spend some time with her and judge for yourself whether or not she can help you, okay?"

This was just what Serena needed. On top of carrying the guilt of her classmates deaths, the burden of being an apparent savior to the world, and struggling with her own racial identity, she now had the pleasure of being told what a screw up she was academically as well. As pissed off as she was at that moment she knew that Patricia was right, and she was just trying to help. That respect for Ms. Haruna that she fought so hard to kill off was kicking her right in the teeth. Against her better judgment, she nodded her head.

"I think you'll be glad you agreed to this. Ami can help turn anyone's grades around if you just listen to her and follow her advice. Although, I will warn you that she's a bit…stressed out. She studies very hard and comes from a family where academics are extremely important, so she's had to sacrifice the social life you love so much. She's not much of a people person, but once you get to know her she's really nice."

Serena smirked. She imagined this Ami looking and acting just like someone she knew. Four inch glasses, thin as a stick, and about as attractive as a hang nail. Sounded like a much better date for Melvin than her smoking hot best friend.

"I'm not worried. How bad could she be?"

Not long after those famous last words, Serena found herself face to face with a force she was in no way prepared for.

Ami Mizuno was nothing like she imagined. She was beautiful, with shimmering black hair accented by streaks of blue and glasses that seemed to put her bright eyes on display as if they were art. She had an aura of grace and maturity that stunned the California teen.

She had been sitting in Haruna's office with Ami and Patricia for what seemed like an eternity now. After introducing herself the group got down to business and the genius girl had been checking out her academic history ever since. She was completely the entire time, which made Serena as nervous as a Chihuahua.

In a few moments she would wish for that silence back.

"These grades are embarrassing. How did you even graduate from middle school?"

Serena's eyes widened. She looked over at Ms. Haruna in shock, but got no sympathy in return. In a way, it was kind of a good question.

"Uh….."

"You've barely passed a majority of your math classes, your history scores are sub-par and even basic English seems to be above your level of what I would hesitantly call intelligence."

"Uh….."

"Active social life, there's a shock. Let me guess, you partied like there was no tomorrow and now you have to shape up if there's any hope for you making something out of your life, right?"

Serena gazed away from the angry face of her would be tutor.

"Look, you don't know m--"

"I guess we should just be glad you didn't get knocked up before you decided to try and turn it around. I know Ms. Haruna sent you to me for help with your grades, but I'm just a girl, not a miracle worker. Personally, I don't think you have a chance in hell of achieving anything more than a popular sex tape by the time you're twenty. Nothing I see in these files makes me believe you've ever once tried to push yourself harder than the lowest absolute requirement."

Serena had heard enough. She climbed out of her seat and got right in the girl's face and had to fight the urge to knock the glasses right off of it. She was under enough stress as it was and didn't need some jackass making her feel worse. That same inner rage that almost got her in a fight with that goth girl before was starting to consume her once more. She needed to get out of there before she was expelled.

"I don't need to take this from someone like you! I know your type, I've dealt with their shit my whole life! Don't take your social frustrations out on me! You're just pissed off because no matter how hard you try to fit in, with your stupid highlights and pathetic attempts at make up, no one sees you as anything other than a self indulgent little arrogant bitch!"

"SERENA!" Haruna called out. This is definitely not how she expected this to go. She didn't think the two of them would be best friends, but this was far beyond her expectations.

The enraged blonde glanced at Haruna with tears welling up in her eyes. She was already an emotional wreck, she didn't need anyone else after her. The last thing she wanted to do was burn bridges with anyone, but lately it seems there was nothing in her life but separation from anyone and everyone she knew.

"I'm sorry. I… I have to go." she said softly as she made a break for the door. She heard her teacher calling to her but she blocked it all out. She just wanted to run away and find a nice black hole to crawl into.

Ami took her glasses off and wiped them clean.

"Stupid girl spit on me when she talked."

Haruna shook her head in disbelief as she stood up and paced around the room.

"I can't believe you did that."

"Did what? I don't have time to baby sit these little idiots you keep bringing to me, Ms. Haruna. I can't give up my future for the sake of trying to salvage theirs."

"That isn't like you, Ami. What's wrong?"

Ami turned away from the teacher and began filing away Serena's paperwork. That was a loaded question she was just asked. She wasn't really known for sharing much of anything, not even to the people she cared about. Not that she had many of those anymore.

"She's what's wrong. People like her."

"You just met the girl, how can you judge her so quickly?"

Ami turned around, her face full of resentment.

"Because I've had to deal with people like her my whole life as well. Insignificant little people who don't care about anything beyond their own problems. All they do is waste their lives, from one day to the next without worrying about the world or trying to help others. She's the girl that called me ugly when I had to get glasses, and told everyone I was gay because I don't talk to boys."

"Ami…"

"She's the girl that told me the reason my father left was because I'm a burden and that's why he won't even talk to me."

Haruna felt a chord in her heart plucked. There it was, beyond the layers of inner turmoil and anger was the reason behind this ugly side of a student she had come to admire greatly in the time she had known her.

"He still hasn't called, has he?"

Ami shrugged as she fought back a few tears. She was known as someone who had a heart of stone. She had been pushed around, taunted, and mocked for years by people one could laughably call her 'peers.' It may have damaged her on the inside but visibly she was tough as nails.

"Not in a year. I've called him twice a week for the past year and he has never answered the phone. He doesn't respond to my letters either. Mom says the seperation turned ugly and it has nothing to do with me, but it's hard to believe that. I heard them fight all the time and it always about me. He said mom was wasting all of her money putting me into all of these programs and schools. He said I'd end up just like my sister."

Haruna had read about Ami's sister Juni. She had passed away a few years ago from a drug overdose at a friend's party and evryone knew that Ami's father had never gotten over his first child's death. Her father left her mother shortly after that and never looked back. It was hard explaining to someone as logical as Ami how emotions can throw you completely off course in life and make you do terrible things.

"You still blame yourself for what happened to her?"

Ami nodded.

"How can I not? If I had watched out for her maybe she would have been okay."

"But you were too busy studying, trying to make a future for yourself even at a young age. And now you feel like being close to someone just leads to heartbreak, so it's better to just worry about yourself so you don't fail anyone else, am I right?"

The girl with the stylish blue streaks laughed a little as she wiped the few tears from her eyes.

"Maybe you should have been a therapist instead."

Haruna smiled and messed up the girl's hair with her hand.

"What, and actually make a decent living? I wouldn't dream of it. Look, I know Serena isn't exactly the student of the year. She's made a lot of mistakes in her life and hasn't cared nearly as much as she should have. But she feels just as out of place here as you do and needs someone like her for more than just guidance, but for friendship as well. Wouldn't it be nice to come out of that shell for once and have someone your own age that you could talk to? Academics are important, but so is enjoying your youth. I think Serena would be good for you. I think you would be good for each other. Won't you reconsider?"

Ami sighed. She knew this day would come eventually, when she'd have to lower her defenses and let someone in. She didn't expect to be a fortress her entire life, but she wasn't sure if she was quite ready yet. Her sister, despite all her faults, was the popular one. She fit in. She was gorgeous and fun, exciting and spontaneous. Ami was organized and resentful, intelligent and indifferent. They barely got along in life but in death Ami missed her every second. She would have jumped at the opportunity to make new friends. Maybe a lesson could be learned from her big sister, even after she was gone.

"Alright. But I reserve the right to bail out if my brain cells start dropping. Where should I start with her?"

"How about an apology for the way you treated her earlier?"

Ami looked down at her feet in shame. In retrospect she was kind of a bitch to the poor girl. Maybe Haruna was right and this girl wasn't the same stereotype she had grown to detest during her school life.

"You're right. I'll try to mend fences."

"You're a good person, Ami. You make me very proud. Don't forget that."

Ami's smile shone brightly as the cloudiness in her soul parted for a brief moment. She thanked her teacher and friend before heading off to find Serena.

As she closed the door behind her Patricia Haruna let out a sigh of relief.

"I didn't think I'd get those two together. Are you sure it was a good idea to bring her into this so early? Ami can be…complicated," she said to seemingly no one.

Though it may seem like she was talking to herself, there was another person in the room that had been listening in on the entire scene. The sounds of banging and crashing came from the closet as Luna fell out of the cramped space and fell to the ground along with text books, folders, and office supplies..

"……that took me months to organize, you know."

Luna brushed off her shoulders and her long legs. The closet may have been organized but it was sure as hell dusty too.

"Sorry about that. I'm usually as graceful as a cat. To answer your other question, yes, I think it's a good idea. They were going to find each other someday without our intervention. Fate calls them together. It's been tough watching Serena from afar this whole time, especially after the incident at her old school. I know she needs me, but I have to be sure she's strong enough to stand without me before I can reveal anything else. She needs a friend right now, someone she can share this burden with. Ami may be a little rough around the edges now, but I'm sure the natural bond they shared so long ago will blossom once more. She was always there for Serena before. I have faith in her."

Patricia slouched back in her seat and began spinning around in place while staring at the ceiling. Sometimes she wondered how in the world she got herself involved in all of this.

"I just wish there was more I could do. I used to feel like I was standing idly by watching these kids die, but now I feel like I'm sending them off to the slaughter."

Luna patted the young teacher on her head and gave her a reassuring smile.

"I know you want to protect these children, but this is their destiny."

"What about the others? Do you need my help recruiting them?"

Luna shook her head.

"Not yet. Let fate take its course. You've already done more than enough for our cause. We have to let them stand on their own against the darkness."

"I'll do anything you ask. I owe you my life, Luna. I believe in your mission, just please don't put these girl's lives in danger needlessly. Fate is one thing, but I won't let you send them to their deaths."

"I hope it won't come to that. But this is bigger than them. It's bigger than any of us." Luna said as she gazed outside at the coming thunderstorm. The weather had been erratic lately. It was a sign of the coming apocalypse and she knew it.

"We're fighting for life itself."

Serena had stormed off from her big meeting just a few minutes ago and she still felt like garbage. It was amazing how much a few cheap words could completely destroy someone's very spirit. She didn't feel like a hero right now. She felt exactly like what she was called-a stupid cheap slut. Why did that girl's words hurt her so much? It felt like she had been scolded by her mother. Usually insults didn't effect her psyche at all, but a few shots at her sent her into a spiral of depression and anger today.

She rounded a corner on her way out of the school when she spotted a vaguely familiar face. She didn't want to see anyone right now, not in the state she was in, so she wasn't going to take chances with this being someone she knew. She tried to turn around and leave the way she came but she had already been spotted and was about to be called out.

"Serena Tsukino."

It was a male's voice. It was low and sharp, and it sent chills down her spine. She turned around slowly as the figure came closer and closer. He walked calmly as he inched closer and closer to the flustered teen. As he stepped out of the shadows created by the swaying trees that blocked the sunset outside she finally made out his face and her jaw almost hit the floor.

"Jade!? I thought you were dead. I saw you jump off the roof, how is this possible?"

Jade gave a disturbed grin as he glared hatefully towards her.

"I actually felt pity for you on that roof top. Your beauty made me feel things inside that I thought were long dead. Imagine how betrayed I feel now. It's funny, I never thought it would be you."

"You're creeping me out. What the hell are you talking about?"

Jade's eyes grew black as the trees outside stopped moving back and forth and the hallway become permanently dim. The vision of cradling Jadeite's broken in his arms was drawing out whatever good remained in his heart. He was losing himself and letting the anger take over. Worse than that, he liked it.

"I saw what you did to my brother. Your power is incredible. But are you really that strong, or was it just an accident? Can you really save this world, Serena?"

Serena backed up as the hall got darker and darker. The air became so still that it felt she was going to choke on it. She got that sick feeling in her stomach again, just like before Jadeite's attack on her old school. Something was wrong.

"I don't understand…"

The grim boy laughed.

"It's okay. I'll make it simple for you. Fight or die."

In a flash Jade had teleported from the spot he stood to about thirty feet in front of him where Serena was. He grabbed her by the throat and the two hovered off of the ground as he pushed her back and slammed her into a wall at a break neck speed. Her back broke the plaster on impact and created a hole that her body laid halfway in. Though he looked like a regular teenager he was impossibly strong. It was like being manhandled by a Transformer.

"Where are your reflexes? You expect to beat any of us when you move so slow? I could crush your neck if I desired to do so!" he said with maniacal eyes as he pulled her from the hole by the neck and lifted her off the ground, choking the very life from her.

Serena was hurt bad. She felt like her back was broken in about twenty different places. Still, she fought back as hard as she possibly could. She kicked and punched at her tormentor, striking him several times in the face while her lungs were giving out. One of her punches bloodied Jade's nose, and upon noticing the crimson drips his eyes grew with surprise. He threw Serena to the floor and wiped the blood off with the back of his hand.

"Blood…red blood… Human blood…" he said to himself as the blackness in his eyes melted away back to green.

Serena coughed loudly. She felt like she couldn't breathe hard enough.

"You're…insane…Why…are you doing…this to me?" she managed to squeak out between coughs.

Jade looked at the girl solemnly.

"The darkness is coming. I can't fight it alone. When it wants me it overtakes my body and I am powerless to stop it. But you aren't corrupted by it's filth. I have to know if you're strong enough to make a stand against it, or if we're all sheep to be led to the slaughter. Stand up, Serena. Fight me. Show me your strength or I'll kill you right here and now!"

Serena used the wall as a brace to push herself up to her feet. She was still woozy, but she knew that this was serious. She had to do something or this maniac was going to murder her.

"I don't want to fight anyone. I did what I had to do to protect those people. I don't want anyone else to die!"

"Then you've already chosen to let everyone die. So be it."

Jade grabbed the girl by the throat again and lifted her high in the air once more.

"I'm not going to make this quick. I want you to feel the air escape your lungs. I want you to know death is coming for you!"

Serena tried her hardest to pull his hands away from her but they were locked around tight and would not even budge a bit. She tried her hardest to summon the power that stopped that monster from massacring more of her peers again. She closed her eyes and wished on every star in the sky, prayed to every God she had ever heard about, but nothing came. Why wasn't it working?

She thought about her family again. She felt like a lottery winner the first time she got out of a situation like this. She should have appreciated what she had more after that moment but all she ever thought about was what else would happen to her. It was always about her. She feared for her life, her safety, and her future. She never thought about precious life was, she mourned it. She didn't tell her family how much she loved them and appreciated them, she hid from them. She blew her second chance and now she was going to die alone in this vacant hallway. She was always alone, in life and death. Even when surrounded by a hundred people she felt like she was a million miles away from all of them. She thought back to what she had written in her journal that very same day.

"_I don't want to be alone. _

_Not again. _

_I'd rather die."_

She realized she was getting her wish. There was nothing left to do now but close her eyes and wait for peace.

She should know by now that peace never came that easily.

"What are you doing?"

Her vision was starting to blur and she felt like she was slipping in and out of consciousness, but Serena distinctly her a voice she knew. She spotted Ami out of the corner of her eye and suddenly felt reenergized. Her own death, though unwanted, was okay. But she didn't want anyone else to suffer because of her, even if she was a total bitch. Jade and his brethren were homicidal and didn't care who they killed. Ami would be just another stain on the wall to them. Serena had to do something and fast.

"Let go of her!"

Jade raised one of his eyebrows. This was unexpected.

"Why aren't you frozen in time like everything else? Unless….you're one of them too. Well this is a surprise and makes my price of admission worth it! Do you hear that moon child? This girl is just like you, except she's even more unaware. You won't fight back for the sake of your own life. How about someone else's?" he asked his prey before tossing her to the cold hard floor.

What did he mean by all of that? Ami was like her except she was unaware? Unaware of what? She thought back to something Luna had told her when she revealed the true past to her.

"_Your mother, the beautiful and iron willed queen Serenity, sealed away the children of the moon and sent them into the future to live peaceful lives._"

Was Amireally like her? Was she a child of the moon? Serena had a billion questions about all of this, but she knew that nothing would be answered if there no one left alive to answer them. The crystal on the necklace began to glow again. Serena noticed the illumination and smirked. It was go time.

"It's a shame. You girls were my last hope. Maybe Metallia was right. There is nothing left to believe in." Jade said as he raised his hand towards Ami. Blackness surrounded it in the shape of an orb, with cackling energy running between his fingers and growing more fierce with every second.

"Ami, run!" Serena yelled to no avail.

The younger Mizuno sister was like a deer caught in headlights. She raised her arms to cover her face as a bolt of black energy fired from Jade's hand and headed directly towards her.

"NO!" she screamed out as her body burned with a bright blue aura. She pushed her hands forward, calling forth a great rush of water that seemed to appear out of nowhere. The wave smashed through and dissipated the bolt of destruction before nailing Jade in the chest, knocking him backwards and into a set of lockers that crushed like tin cans on his back.

Ami looked down at her hands in astonishment. "That was interesting."

"My turn!" Serena called back as she tore the pendant from the chain around her neck and clasped it tightly in her palm.

Before Jade had a chance to collect his thoughts she summoned her energy through the silver crystal and fired a concentrated blast of pure white light from the jewel in her hands. Jade had a split second to react, and barely fared better than his brother when he found himself in the same situation. He put up a shield of energy which managed to absorb less than half of the powerful beam of light. He held on as long as he could before realizing this was a fight he could not win. He was growing weaker and weaker as he took the full force of the powerful blast and could not hold out much longer.

Still, this is what he wanted. He had to see for himself. Maybe Serenity was right in her plan. Maybe there really was hope after all. With a new resolve and many mixed emotions, Jade disappeared into thin air to return to the Dark Kingdom. He was weakened but satisfied. Now, his plan could truly begin.

The force of the dark and the light coming together created a wave of energy that knocked both Serena and Ami down. The air soon returned to normal as the trees outside began to rustle again and the sun shined through the windows like a beacon of hope. Disaster was averted. There were no casualties this time. There were no broken families, no unanswered questions. Thankfully this little meeting was set in the afternoon, long after most of the staff and students had gone home for the evening. So, hopefully, the smoking holes in the wall and the set of broken lockers could surely be explained away as vandalism.

Serena couldn't be happier right now.

She and Ami laid on the ground together staring up towards the ceiling. They were both out of breath, shaky, and neither quite sure of what the heck the other had done. But, in between all of the confusion and pain, there was an unspoken bond forming between the two girls that wanted to rip each other's throats out just a half hour ago.

Serena turned her head left and looked at Ami, who continued to stare upward with a strange smile on her face.

"So, did you need something?"

"I came to apologize about earlier." Ami said between hard breaths.

"Oh." she said as she lost the physical strength to hold her neck at an angle and went back to looking forward.

"Apology accepted."


	6. Chapter 6

The silent void that claimed home to the demonic castle of the Dark Kingdom was broken by the faintest of laughter that grew louder and louder with each breath.

Jade stumbled through the halls of the dimly lit castle, his clothes torn and his face bloody from the direct blast of energy he took from that strange girl he had become infatuated with. If not for shielding himself at the last minute he would have been vaporized.

And like any being that almost met it's fate at the hands of the hated enemy, he ran and danced in a celebration never seen before in his black world. He shuffled around other residents of the darkness; twisted monsters with grotesque faces and deformed bodies. They looked less like the former inhabitants of the planet Earth and more like literal demons. His laughter and joy seemed lost on the creatures, most of which looked like they hadn't felt any emotions in hundreds of years.

Jade picked one out in particular, a rose amongst the dirt in the form of a voluptuous beautiful woman, and proceeded to dance around with her.

"What do you think you're doing?" the girl called out to the strange boy.

"Oh, Tidus, why not live a little for once? Just because you're trapped in an eternal nightmare of darkness and misery doesn't mean you can't put on a big smile!"

"Have you lost your mind?"

"I blame that planet. Yes, definitely. The sights, the sounds, the smells, and less we forget the touches!" he replied while his hand fell and groped her backside.

Tidus pushed her would be dance partner away and fixed her long flowing black hair. "You're deranged. Touch me like that again and I'll make sure you drown slowly."

"How slowly?" Jade asked as he rubbed his forehead against hers.

"Extremely."

She walked away from the scene and snapped her fingers before disappearing completely into the blackness.

Jade felt a strange sensation in his chest and started coughing frantically. His lungs felt like they were going to explode and water began pouring out of his mouth. He laughed off his second brush with death and celebrated by snapping the neck of a monster that had stayed for the whole show.

"Let that be a lesson. Live every day like it's your last, because in this line of work it probably will be!"

"What's got you so damned blissful?" called out the voice of a near ghost.

Jade's eyes lit up with excitement as he watched the youngest general Jadeite step out of the shadows.

"Brother!"

Jadeite was not even close to one hundred percent yet. He had taken a blast of pure white energy similar to the one his younger brother experienced just a couple of minutes ago. Luckily the girl who had done it was just awakening to her powers and was unable to finish him off. Jade considered it lucky, anyway. The pain was so severe that death seemed like a merciful alternative.

"Murdering Queen Beryl's servants is a sure fire way to get yourself executed you fool. Have you lost your mind?"

Jade grinned from ear to ear.

"You're the second person to ask me that in the past five minutes. Not that time flows all that well down here. I suppose it could have been hours ago, I'm not sure how any of this works really. But, I digress. These servants are abominations of God, twisted demons formed in the darkness of hell itself. I highly doubt anyone will miss this one. I don't even think that one had a name. Beryl only names her favorite pets. Pets like you and I…"

Jadeite turned away and stumbled. He kept himself up only with the help of the nearest cold wall.

"Not that nonsense again…"

"It's not nonsense."

"You're right, its complete idiocy. If you want to get yourself killed, be my guest. Just leave me out of it. I have enough problems to deal with and I don't need your crusades."

Jade stepped in front of his brother, preventing his departure. He moved his face closer to his brother and spoke in whispers, with the hope that prying ears wouldn't hear.

"My crusade is to save us all. She plans to have you killed, you know that, don't you? I'm to be your executioner."

"And I have no doubt that you'll refuse to do it on the grounds of this budding morality that you seem to have sickeningly embraced."

"If it's such a sin to feel this way why haven't you turned me in? The reward for the head of a traitor must be great. Why can't you bring yourself to hand me over to the witch?"

Jadeite stared away in silence. Jade let out a loud "A ha!" before covering his mouth and hoping none of the demons in the castle were paying attention.

"You can't because I'm your brother. Because you feel guilty for leading me to this fate!"

The elder brother pushed the youngest against the wall and held his arm to his throat, nearly choking him.

"I feel no guilt. I feel no remorse. I feel no happiness, no shame, or any regret. You can pretend to be human all you want but do not mistake me for what I really am."

"What…are you?" Jade asked as he struggled to breathe.

"A demon. Nothing more, nothing less."

"You are….my brother…"

Jadeite released his grip on his sibling, who slid down the wall and fell to the ground gasping for air.

"Do what you wish. There are plenty of other monsters in this hell to deal with you."

He began to walk away, but stopped dead in his tracks after Jade's next revelation.

"Wait…the one who did that to you… I found her." he said as he stood and readjusted the color on his black uniform.

Jadeite turned slowly and came eye to eye with the only family he had left.

"The princess? Where is she."

"I can't tell you that."

Jadeite backhanded his brother, sending him back into the wall again.

"Tell me or I'll cut your tongue out."

Jade spit the blood out of his mouth and shook his head.

"No. She's real. Her power is real. I felt it… She's so young and so inexperienced and yet possesses so much strength! I believe she can defeat Beryl and save our world."

"Save our world? What world? This horrid nightmare? We're beyond saving. No one here wants to be saved. We don't thirst for rapture. Just revenge. Now tell me where she is or--"

"NO! I'm doing this my way. You'll see. Just give me time. Don't tell anyone else of this yet. I know your pride is hurt and you're still tainted by this darkness, but believe in me brother. I have a plan."

The blonde hero of the Dark Kingdom laughed to himself. He had called his brother a fool for the seemingly unending hope that had started to blossom since his first trip to the surface world they once called home. But now, with revenge so close to his fingertips, he was actually considering the strange proposal set before him. He was the biggest fool of them all.

"Fine. You go to her and beg forgiveness. See how understanding she is to the pleas of a monster. Once she's gotten rid of you there won't be any nagging voice filling my head with nonsense."

Jade sighed.

"It's not nonsense." he said to himself as he watched his only family walk away from him.

Family was something he craved. He couldn't remember what it was like to feel a closeness to anything but black. He wondered how wonderful it must be to feel connected. He had little thought of what it would feel like to lose that connection.

Somewhere in dreamy California, a connection that had been built over years was slowly starting to unravel thanks to the cruelty of destiny.

Serena, Molly, and the always striking Melvin made their way out of big double doors as the curtain dropped on another day of higher learning at their makeshift high school. The sun was still high in the ocean blue sky and the two girls were finally free to pursue their own desires. And their male companion could finally pick up that last piece of epic gear he had been raiding every night for. It was a charmed life.

"I didn't think it was possible, but this school is somehow more boring than our own." said Serena as slammed her head into her English book repeatedly.

"You'd think the novelty of something new would be enough to keep our interest. I guess they overestimated our attention span." replied Molly as she checked her text messages. There was only one message surprisingly, from none other than Melvin, who smiled as he put away his own phone. She read the message on the screen of her iPhone and her eyes widened in surprise.

_I want to do things to you._

Molly quickly put her toy away and pushed the boy hard, sending him to the grass next to the sidewalk they were traveling.

"What was that about?" Serena asked her blushing friend.

"Oh, nothing. You know guys. They step over their boundaries and you have to put them back in line."

Serena shrugged.

"Actually I don't know guys. The only ones that want to talk to me don't really care about anything above my neck. I haven't even had a chance to think about romance in…" she began to say as she thought about the past few weeks and everything that had happened. "Well, a long time."

"Sounds like you need a night out on the town. How about it, you and me, let's go cause trouble and be bad. I mean, before curfew of course. And by be bad I mean, let's go get a milkshake or something. Like, double mint chocolate. With sprinkles. Sorry, I'm not really that good at being bad."

Serena giggled. Molly was always good at lifting her spirits. That was a priceless trait to someone beaten down by life.

"I'd love to."

"Tsukino!"

Molly and Serena turned back to spot Ami Mizuno, the brilliant teen who had recently joined the struggle for peace against the Dark Kingdom. She stood against the ever-descending sun with a notebook in one hand and an energy drink in the other. Tucked above her ear was a pen that was partially hidden by her black and blue hair.

"Oh, hey Ami!" Serena said as she ran over to her new ally's side. She looked back at Molly, who was trying to spy without being noticed. "What's going on?"

Ami opened her notebook, revealing a collage of photos of mummified corpses that had been appearing suddenly in the surrounding cities.

"Three more bodies last night. This time in San Diego. "

Serena felt repulsed by the pictures. The victims faces were frozen with horror, the blood drained from their bodies. They looked like something out of a George A. Romero flick.

"It's like there's no pattern. Whatever is doing this is feeding randomly."

Ami shook her head.

"Not necessarily. There have been multiple attacks in separate cities all around us, but they're moving inward. They're coming this way. I think they're attracted to your crystal."

Serena clutched her necklace.

"I'm putting everyone in danger."

"Yes. But that's good. It means we can prepare ourselves for their attack. Look, if they weren't coming after you they'd be killing people somewhere else. Death is death, regardless of where it is. Judging from their feeding pattern they should be arriving here within a few nights. We have to start gathering weapons if we're going to fight."

Serena looked back at Molly, who glanced away from the two.

"I can't do that, not tonight. Look I think I've been doing better lately. I don't feel the need to run away screaming every time you mention this fight. I know what's coming. But I'm also Serena Tsukino, stupid teenager, and I haven't seen my best friend outside of a classroom for two weeks straight because I've been researching with you. Give me one night to keep my friendship together and then you and I can hunt monsters just like on television. I'll even rent a Mystery Van. What do you say?"

Ami took off her glasses and rubbed her temple.

"Look, Tsukino. I'm not exactly thrilled at what I've gotten myself into. But I can't go on living knowing what's out there and not doing anything about it. But I can't do it alone. I'm just a brain with a couple of neat magic tricks. You have the power of some thousand year old kingdom hanging around your neck. Ms. Haruna told me to work with you, but I don't think she knew what exactly you and I would be going up against. This isn't about bad grades and college prospects anymore. This is for survival. Now are you going to take this seriously or not?"

Serena felt a pain in her chest. She had an incredible responsibility now, and even though she wasn't the only one in the fight she still felt alone in life. The enemy was getting closer and closer to where she lived and breathed, but at the same time the best part of her life was moving further and further away. To protect the ones she loved she had to push them away. It was unfair, but it was life.

And life sucked.

"How can you be so cold?" she asked the girl with the stone face.

"I'm not being cold. I'm being responsible, something I was hoping I really could tutor you on. We're not friends and I don't owe you explanations. If and when we defeat this coming darkness I'll take you out for ice cream and try to be buddies. But until then, we have work to do. Got it?"

"Yeah. I got it." Serena said with a hateful look in her pretty eyes. She turned back towards Molly and put on the biggest fake grin she could muster. The blonde teen walked back over to her best friend and threw her arms up. "It sucks, but I gotta go! Ami is going to help me with my…uh…trig…anom..er…"

"Trigonometry?" Molly asked.

"Sure! I can't even pronounce the damn word."

"But you said we'd hang out tonight. Come on, we haven't done anything in forever!"

"I know, but this is super important. I'll make it up to you, I promise. You understand, right?"

Molly hung her head. She was trying her best not to show the blood pouring out of her heart through her cute little top, but it was getting harder and harder every time she was blown off.

"Yes. It's fine."

Serena patted the red head on the top of her noggin.

"You're the best kiddo. Tomorrow, ice cream, you and me right?" she asked as she walked backwards toward Ami.

Molly gave a half hearted wave. "Sure. It's a date."

She watched her best friend walk off with someone else. Someone who hadn't devoted the past few years to a bond Molly thought was unbreakable.

Melvin stood next to the beauty and tried to put on his most charming smile for her.

"Guess it's just you and me then, right?"

Molly started walking towards the stop where her mother usually picked her up after school.

"I want to be alone."

The love sick boy watched as the object of his affection walked solemnly away from him. He could feel the loneliness radiating off of her slim body. He had been there for her the past few weeks when Serena would always find one excuse or another to not spend time with her. The two grew closer at first, but lately Molly seemed to just want to be alone all the time. Whatever chance he had with the unattainable hottie was withering and it was all because there was a void in her that he couldn't fill, and the one person who could was busy with someone else.

He couldn't understand how Serena could turn her back on the girl that had done so much for her. He didn't buy the tutoring excuse for a second. She had never cared about school this much before. He also couldn't comprehend how someone wouldn't want to spend every waking moment with Molly. She was gorgeous, sweet, and he felt like he was going to pass out every time she walked by with her favorite perfume on. He wanted to be with her so badly it hurt. But it seemed like before it even had a chance of beginning it was already over.

He should have known better than to think he had a chance. After all, he was a loser wasn't he? He was a video game addict with nerd glasses and hair that just didn't seem to want to comb down. What chance did he have with a goddess?

Even though he never truly had her, he felt like he was losing her. He had never been close enough to anyone to truly know what loss felt like.

But for one person wandering aimlessly somewhere in the midst of the beauty of a care free life, loss was about to become the only thing she felt.

The sounds of guitars and screaming violent lyrics echoed throughout the otherwise peaceful suburban two story home. shelves on the walls shook to the rumbling bass lines that blared through the surround sound speakers. The little black boxes circled the living room like an army of emo soldiers willing and able to obliterate the ear drums of anyone who dared to enter.

A girl strolled into sight, clad only in a torn AFI t-shirt that stopped just above her pierced navel, red and black striped boy shorts that left nothing to the imagination, and black eyeliner that made her look like she hadn't been asleep for a week. Actually, there was a good chance that she hadn't. She banged her head to the music as she got herself ready for another day of her so called life.

Dancing her way into the kitchen, she grabbed a glass and poured it full of orange juice. It took some serious vitamins to keep up with her mind, after all. After gulping it down like she hadn't experienced liquids in years she slammed the glass back down on the kitchen counter. She screamed along to her favorite song as she leaped over the back of her leather designer couch and grabbed the remote to her 50 inch HD television. She flipped through the channels at a wicked pace, not really paying attention to the scrolling images that she couldn't hear over the music anyway.

It was amazing to her that there were hundreds of channels at her disposal and never anything to watch. As much as she loved music she couldn't bring herself to watch MTV or VH1. They were the Uncle Tom's of the televised music world. Fuse, while somewhat better, was still ruled by mostly filler. The only channel she ever caught herself watching was the Food Network, but if anyone found out about her cooking obsession her image would be tarnished.

Not that her image was golden to begin with.

She had heard the same thing from teachers, other students, and anyone else who made the mistake of trying to get close. She was a troublemaker, a slacker, AND A waste of time. She gave Generation X a black eye. Those that got in her face over her lifestyle were lucky if an extended middle finger was all they received for their trouble. She had already been kicked out of two other schools for extending a fist instead. She didn't care. Life was a joke and she didn't want to be part of the punch line. In a world where everything ends in an instant she wasn't going to devote time to conforming.

It was somewhat of a lonely life, even she would admit that. She had no love for gangs, no interest in drugs, no need for friendship, and no respect for authority. It was like her goal in life was to alienate any and every person that tried to get close.

She wasn't all bad, though. physically she was an impressive beauty. She was quite pretty, even though most of her natural beauty was hidden by make-up inspired by the Goth and punk persuasion. That, combined with her exceptionally large chest, would have made her popular with the boys if she didn't threaten to castrate them for looking.

She may have seemed like an uncaring outcast, but she did have one weakness-her family. They accepted her and asked nothing of her that she didn't feel comfortable with. They may give her funny looks every once in a while when she tries a new fashion but they were generally far more accepting than she deserved. There were a lot of things that she would change if she had the power, but she wouldn't trade them for the world.

Today was an important day for them all. Her parents had been gone for the past week to visit family in another state. She had stayed behind for various reasons, most notably her inability to get along with other members of her tree. She would probably get a lecture on the school that she had skipped when they weren't there. She was used to it. It would be good to see them again. The house was pretty depressing when it was just her.

As she continued flipping through random channels she came across a news report on one of the local California stations. She couldn't hear what they were saying, but the visual spoke louder than they ever could. There was a plane, or at least chunks of debris of what was left of it, scattered in the woods just outside of Los Angeles. The trees were burning along with the wreckage, making the whole scene look like some kind of video from hell.

Her heart was already about to jump out of her chest. Fear and paranoia over her parents safety attacked her mind, though the sensible side tried to fight back. There were a lot of flights every day, what were the chances the flight number would spell the end of the only thing she held dear?

At the bottom of the screen was the headline that would change her destiny forever. She ran to the kitchen to check the message her parents had left her about their flight. She tasted her heart in the back of her throat as she played the recording. She could barely make out the sound of her mother's soft voice. The time between the first beep of the recording and the information she was waiting for seemed like a lifetime. if only it could have really been that long. As her mother read off the numbers on her flight plan the teen girl matched them up piece by piece with the digits displayed on the TV right next to the words "All passengers confirmed dead."

In the background she heard her mother's voice telling her how much they missed her and they would see her soon. As the girl stared forward, motionless in the face of fate with the sounds of hard rock consuming the room, her mother's final words to her would play one last time.

"We love you, Lita."


	7. Chapter 7

-1It was a sunny morning in California, the kind of day that earned the state it's reputation of being a haven for lovers of beautiful weather.

Two girls found themselves atop the roof of the high school that had become a sort of makeshift headquarters for the pair of unlikely comrades. The atmosphere was lost on the two, however. They found themselves high above the Earth for reasons far more important than getting a tan.

Serena Tsukino stared out over the horizon with a renewed feeling of being shackled to fate. She had survived two attacks from what she had been told was her greatest foe from a lifetime ago on the moon. She didn't even know where to begin picking that statement apart. But, as impossible as it seemed, she found herself hiding on the roof, watching the lucky ones who had no idea of the truth that would await them all. She listened to the wind whisper lonely words into her ear and resisted the urge to create tears. She was starting to realize that crying would change nothing. There were only two choices now, fight or die.

She found herself somewhere between the two.

On the other hand there was Ami Mizuno, a brilliant scholar and Japanese born teenager, much like Serena. What one had hoped would bring them closer had no impact on the other. Ami put her heart and soul into stopping the coming darkness, much like she handled everything else in her life. She was committed and unwavering in their mission, though her devotion was bordering on some kind of miserable obsession. She didn't notice the wind, or the students, or the loneliness of her partner. She only saw the need to save the world in the hopes of finding redemption for the life she couldn't save before.

She had felt nothing so far.

"The last time I was on a roof like this was when my high school was blown to pieces. Jade told me that he felt sorry for the people down below. I believed him. And still, knowing what I know, I can only feel sorry for myself."

Ami wasn't listening. She laid out various clippings from local and national newspapers about the strange occurrences happening around the world. She circled headlines that told of mysterious deaths and murders, all of which seemed to form a circle around their country, then their state, and finally seemed to be closing in with each week on their own city.

"Do you ever feel that way? Don't you feel sorry that you're aware? I think the only times I've ever truly been happy were when I was too ignorant to think about the way the world really works. I had a hard enough time dealing with my problems when it was just peer pressure and a poor self image. Now I've got…this to deal with. God, you must hate me for bringing you into all of this. I thought it would be better if I had someone to share this pain with."

The girl in the glasses shuffled around some of the papers on the ground. She glanced over an article detailing the recent discovery of headless bodies, none of which seemed to have any kind of record on file with the government. They didn't seem to exist. The story itself was deemed as some kind of a hoax in a retracting editorial from the next issue. Was it truly a hoax? Was it some kind of BS story put together to capitalize on the fears of the people still devastated over the loss of life in the Crossroads school bombing? Or was this part of the war between them and the Dark Kingdom? And if it was, Ami wondered who exactly was fighting back on their behalf.

"Don't you ever feel lonely?"

Ami stopped looking over the papers at her feet and glanced up at the girl that wouldn't stop talking.

"I don't have time for God and I don't have the luxury of feeling sorry for anyone. Someone has to sacrifice so others don't have to. We're the unlucky ones, it sucks, but it's how it is. If we sit around asking God why this is happening to us we become blind to what's happening to everyone else. I'm not letting that happen again." she remarked unknowingly as she browsed more articles by the same author as the alleged hoax.

"Again?" Serena asked as she turned back towards her newfound ally. "What are you talking about? Did something happen before?"

Ami shook her head. She had said too much, which was amazing considering the fact she hardly ever spoke to begin with.

"Forget it."

"No, I want to know. Maybe it'll explain why you seem to constantly have something up your ass."

The black haired girl with the blue streaks stared up at Serena with a surprised look and laughed a little.

"I forgot you could smile. You should do it more often."

Ami coughed and adjusted herself back to her comfort level of an emotionless rock. "Yes, well… I guess your attitude is a bit infectious. Look, Serena, there are some things I'm not ready to talk about with you. We're not close enough to share things with each other. Not yet. Maybe if we live through this and I can come to terms with you being…well, you. But not right now, okay? We have more important matters to discuss. Look at these papers. They're all written by the same guy about some kind of war going on at night between the forces of good and some kind of evil league of monsters, linking it all the way back to the destruction of your old high school. Sound familiar?"

Serena raised her eyebrows.

"Sounds like not everyone believes that whole terrorist thing. Who is it? Dan Rather?"

Ami smiled again. This was going to become an annoying habit, one she thought she had rid herself of years ago. She was young, foreign, and a woman. She had to be twice as tough to make in this country, and giggling like a schoolgirl wouldn't help her image. Ironic, since her image was indeed that of a schoolgirl.

"Not quite, although I do give you points for knowing who Dan Rather is. No, I have no idea who this guy is. He seems to post online in various forums under what I same is an alias, as I doubt he would use his real name. If he's as smart or paranoid as he seems in these postings he would try his hardest to remain untraceable."

The genius girl handed her less intelligible but socially profound partner a print out from one of the person's online postings. At the end of the article was a cryptic message-

_They try to restrain us, bury us, and silence us. But who will save us? I've seen the atrocities. I know what the dark is capable of. They say we're victims of terrorism. They're lying through their teeth as they smile in our faces. But as surely as God made black and white, what's done in the dark will be brought to the light. Raise your voices and break the silence. Don't listen to their lies and don't hide behind a mask._

"He sounds kind of hot. Like, not real hot, but smart hot. You know, like 'you' hot. But yes, it seems a bit odd."

Ami nodded.

"He may know what he's talking about though. And thanks for the…compliment, I think? Anyway, we should definitely try talking to this…" she began to say as she checked the name at the end of the piece of paper.

"…Mamoru Chiba."

Serena couldn't help but smirk. Was he really Japanese, or just another wannabe like the hordes of others she knew that butchered her language and dressed up like Goodwill versions of anime characters she had never heard of. She had felt so alone being a foreigner in the United States, but it seems like lately she's finding more and more people just like her. Unfortunately, they really were just like her-caught up in some kind of nightmare that none of them truly understood.

"So there's some guy who claims to know the truth behind all this weirdness, and someone who's killing off the beings which we ourselves should be, I'm assuming, killing off. Jeez, does everyone know more about this than us? When did this become so well known? Aren't we supposed to be the heroes here?"

"Heroes? We're kids. How do you think is going to turn out? We're going to fight some secret war against the forces of evil, saving lives and defending the American dream under the guise of night? Schoolgirls by day, heroines of justice at night, like something out of a DC comic? Innocent people are going to die and we're going to get our hands very bloody. And that's the good ending, the one where we're still alive when the smoke clears. Regardless of the outcome, our lives as we know them are over. You know your life? The one where you're a cute little piece of ass with not a trouble in the world other than stepping on people like me on your way to the height of popularity? It's over. This world as we know it will end and unless we toughen up we'll end right along with it."

"You really know how to ruin a moment, you know that? Maybe death wouldn't be so bad if it meant not having to deal with your mood swings," she replied with just a hint of tremble in her voice.

The school bell in the background signaled the end of what could have been a moment of bonding. Ami gathered up her notes and articles in a hurry as she was already going to be late for her next class.

"I'm sorry. I don't know if you noticed yet or not but I'm not exactly a social butterfly. All I know about most people are the things that I grew up assuming about them. The fact that I'm scared out of my fucking mind doesn't exactly help with my shortcomings."

Serena gave a weak smile. She hadn't heard Ami apologize yet, as half assed as it may have sounded. Maybe there was hope for her after all.

"I'm scared too, yet also encouraged by your use of bad language. You don't look like the type."

"Oh I cuss all the time. All the _fucking_ time."

Looking over the school grounds Serena noticed that girl again, walking so gingerly towards the front door halfway through the day. As a motivated slacker she was appalled by the slap to the face of responsibility that this girl delivered on a daily basis. She didn't want to waste her time learning about math or countries she'd never ever in the history of life need to know, but damned if she wasn't there everyday on time like everyone else.

Well, not on time _everyday_ but she sure as hell had a better track record than the tall goth poser that seemed to show up at the opportune times to make some wise ass comment about her.

"Well well, look who shows up hours late yet again."

"Hmmm?" Ami asked as she slung her book bag over her shoulder and gazed out over the yard too. "Not her!" she exclaimed when she saw the same girl Serena was seething over.

"You know her?"

"That's Lita. I accidentally walked in on her in the locker room a few days ago when she was in her bra and she has been calling me gay ever since."

"Why would she do that?"

"I may or may not have stared at her chest for longer than I probably should have. Well, have you seen her without all of that bulky clothing she wears? Girls her age shouldn't be that top heavy. Her back is going to be broken by the time she's twenty one. Assuming she hasn't OD'd by then."

Ami turned her head slowly and noticed the odd smirk Serena was giving her.

"Don't judge me, Tsukino."

"Oh you have nothing to worry about from me. I think its cute."

"You think what's cute?"

"Oh, nothing." Serena said as she turned and began making her way towards the rooftop door.

"What do you think is cute, Tsukino?! Tsukino!"

"You're smarter than me, you'll figure it out!"

Ami turned back towards Lita and felt her cheeks burning as she turned red with embarrassment. She had forgotten there was a reason she didn't raise her voice very much. And as she thought about her previous embarrassment she realized she was staring at the girl's chest again. She smacked herself on the side of the face and started to walk away when she noticed something strange about that girl's demeanor. She usually looked as bored as humanly possible with her surroundings, but she was different today. She looked lost and detached. She seemed as if she could walk into a wall right now and not even realize it.

"I think something is wrong."

Serena turned and began walking backwards, braving the probable danger of tripping over her own feet.

"What do you mean?"

Ami pointed down towards the school grounds, where Lita looked like a mindless drone as she walked through students who had gathered outside during break. They started to part to both sides of her, like the sea to Moses as she made her way towards the institute of learning. Whispers circulated through the two rows of teenagers and Lita didn't seem to notice any of it. She looked straight ahead, not even batting an eyelash at all the unwanted attention she was receiving. The principal of the high school was waiting for her at the entrance to the building along with a few police officers. As she set foot on the top step he put an arm around her, said a few words that Ami couldn't make out, and led her into the building and away from prying eyes.

Amongst the sea of students was Luna, who closed her eyes and let a tear run down her cheek as she turned away from the scene and made her way towards the gates of the school. Patricia Haruna, who watched Lita's lonely walk from the bottom step, eyed Luna as she was making her exit. She understood the situation perfectly-now wasn't the right time.

On top of the rooftop Serena noticed the beautiful woman leaving the schoolyard and felt her heartbeat get faster. The hair, the slim supermodel body, even the way she walked seemed all too familiar. Was it truly the person that had brought her into this situation only to abandon her when she needed her the most? What was she doing here now, and did it have anything to do with this girl named Lita? Serena had questions and she wasn't going to let her get away this time.

Without saying a word to Ami she sprinted to the door and ran as fast as she could down the stairs leading to the bottom level of the school. As she ran for her life she watched Lita being led into the principal's office. Lita turned at that moment and the two locked eyes with each other. She wanted to give her the usual angry look that the girl always returned to her but there was no hostility this time. Lita's eyes were cold and dead. There didn't seem to be any life or fight in them at all today. Serena was curious about what the hell was happening, but after such a long time of no contact with her messenger she couldn't pass up this chance of catching her, even if it was a small chance. That woman seemed to be as quick as a cat.

The Asian beauty pushed past other students as she burst through the doors to the outside. She felt like her lungs wanted to collapse from running so fast for so long, but the physical pain seemed to be drowned out by the thoughts running through her head. The fear of the two times she was almost killed, the sorrow of losing so many friends to a hellish enemy, and the feeling of overwhelming confusion she felt in life was fuel to keep her running towards the only person who seemed to have any answers.

Ms. Haruna watched and said nothing as Serena sped past her. She probably could have been a bigger help to the cause by stopping her, but she had always felt guilty about what they were doing to these girls. Pushing them into an unimaginable situation and then offering no support seemed like a terrible thing to do. Luna had told her that she didn't know how to make things right and was terrified of facing Serena after what happened at her old school. She wouldn't face the heir to the throne if she didn't have to.

Patricia hoped this would be that moment where she had to.

Serena charged through the gate, almost knocking over another student in her quest. She looked down the direction Luna was heading in for any sign at all of the elusive woman but saw nothing but the usual sight of cars coming and going.

"Goddamnit!" she yelled as she punched the brick wall that surrounded the schoolyard. She couldn't believe she was so close and failed. She wanted to cry, not from being sad for once, but just from the sheer fury she felt inside of her heart at that moment. She lowered her head and gasped for air. She was worn out and felt like she hadn't taken a breath in hours. She wasn't even sure of why she was chasing the ghost. Did she want to hug her? Hit her? She didn't know whether she would beg her for knowledge or kill her because Serena felt Luna was somehow responsible for the predicament she was in now.

She wouldn't have much time to think it through.

"Serena?"

Serena Tsukino lifted her head and couldn't believe her eyes. There was Luna, as beautiful as she had ever been, standing behind her. She seemed like she was trying to smile but couldn't bring herself to do it. She trembled and acted like she wanted to run away but was forcing herself to stay. She looked just like the mysterious angel that Serena remembered her being.

"I'm sorry… I… I tried to see you before. I just…" Luna began to whimper as she talked. Her eyes welled with water and before she could spit out a full sentence she had broken down in tears. "I'm so sorry, princess. I'm so sorry."

Serena reached out for her and, in those few seconds before contact, decided what course of action to take. Memories that seemed foreign to her, of long nights together in large castle rooms, of private conversations about love and live, became as real as any she had ever experienced the moment they touched. She wrapped her arms around Luna, who continued to cry as she held on tighter to the girl she was supposed to be consoling.

"I don't understand. I thought you would hate me. I hate myself. Why are you doing this?" Luna asked through blurry eyes as she laid her weary head on the teenager's chest.

Serena smiled down at her and spoke just two words that made everything right for the first time in a long time.

"I remembered."


	8. Chapter 8

"_I remembered…_"

Artemis broke through the doors to the Moon Kingdom's grand castle, signaling for a group of guards to lock it shut behind him. His eyes widened as he peered around the open hall of the castle.

Inside were the wounded knights, fearless warriors who had fought with all of their heart, and now found themselves covered in their own blood and a heartbeat away from death.

The remnants of the free people of the Moon cowered in corners, terrified and crying. What few survivors that had escaped Beryl's execution squads found themselves barricaded into the castle, which was becoming more and more like an open graveyard from the dead and dying. Their homes were burned, loved ones murdered, and any hope of a peaceful resolution was killed along with them.

He was snapped out of his horrid daze by the sounds of the castle doors being rammed from the outside. Beryl's soldiers were at the front gate now. That could only mean that Venus had fallen. Artemis felt his heart shatter inside of his chest. He wanted to shed a tear for the brave beauty, but he could not afford it right now. The fact that he couldn't spare a tear for someone he loved and admired so much made him wonder how much of him had died with her, and he wondered if he even had the spirit to press forward.

"Assassins!"

The scream caused Artemis to come back to reality once more. He looked around for the source and saw a cloaked figure charging at him, sword drawn and aiming straight for his heart. He leaped up and used his would be killer's head as balance beam, flipping over him and landing behind. He grabbed the two dagger's at his side and blocked an overhead swing, then stabbed the figure in the stomach with one blade while slicing his throat with the other. Another came at him from the side, but Artemis was already prepared for another attack. He swiftly kicked the second assassin in the jaw, knocking him into the air with a 180 degree spin and sending him face first into the cold marble floor of the castle. Before the figure could even think about his next move he felt both of Artemis' daggers penetrate his back. He laid on the floor, staring up at the innocents glaring hatefully back at him, and died slowly under their gaze.

Another had come from the shadows and prepared to run Artemis down while he was finishing off the man on the ground, but their sword was shattered in half by the grand blade of the prince of the Earth, Endymion.

"My lord, why have you betrayed us?" the figure asked as he raised the shattered remains of his weapon towards his one time leader.

"It is you who have betrayed our kingdom and everything we stand for. What madness have you brought to this peaceful kingdom?" spoke the prince in an unnervingly calm voice.

"Beryl has promised us immortality. She only wants what is best for our people!" the man said as he slowly reached for another blade that was tucked away in his belt behind him. "Why should these people live forever while we grow old and wither away? You are a traitor!"

The man pulled out the other blade and prepared to strike down his prince, but stopped suddenly and cried out in agony. A razor sharp blade cut through his ribs and breastplate from behind, cutting the man in half and sending buckets of blood splattering to the floor along with both halves of his dead body.

A young man with black hair stood behind the assassin. His innocent face was smeared with blood and his once bright green eyes were dull and distant. His weapon, a kind of single hand held ring blade with a cross inside as a handle, fell to the floor in a loud crash.

"Jade!" Endymion yelled as he caught the young man before he could fall to the ground as well. "What is happening on Earth?"

Jade stumbled and fought to stand on his own. He could feel his life slipping away, but felt a gentle comfort in being at the side of his leader and mentor once more. Through his injuries and a dark presence he could barely speak, but felt his final words would hold some meaning, as they would be the last he would ever speak as himself.

"Earth…is in…ruins. The ones who…weren't taken over by the demon were slaughtered mercilessly. Jadeite…my brother cut down our father and left…mother to be torn apart by the beasts. I tried to stop him, but…they were too strong. Kunzite, Zoisite, and Nephrite were with him. They've betrayed us and become Beryl's enforcers. She's turned her back on God and become a servant to evil. I could do nothing to help her. I'm sorry, Endymion. I'm so sorry."

Endymion wiped the blood out of Jade's eyes and tried to give him a reassuring smile they he knew would be forced and false.

"It isn't your fault. Thank you for fighting by my side, but you're a man of faith, where did you get this weapon?"

Jade gave a half hearted chuckle.

"I killed someone and took it. I've killed…a lot of people My hands…are just as bloody as theirs now. Hell has no place for our crimes…" he said as he started to twitch slightly. "…you should run."

Endymion backed away slowly as he noticed Jade's eyes changing colors from green to black and back again.

"What's happened to you, Jade?"

Jade stumbled again as he backed away from Artemis and Endymion and made his way to the castle doors. He gave a low, painful laugh as he turned his back on his allies.

"I couldn't resist. They held me down and infected me with this evil. I did not want this, please understand me! But now it's too late. God wasn't there to help my family, my planet, or me. No one helped me and now I cannot be helped. I've fought this poison as long as I could and now I just can't do it anymore. I'm sorry, Endymion. I'm sorry, Queen Serenity. I'm sorry God!" Jade yelled as he looked up towards the ceiling and began to laugh maniacally.

"Jade…"

Artemis stood in front of Endymion along with a handful of castle guards.

"Get out of here, prince. He's no longer the man we once knew. We don't have much time. I need you to protect the queen and her daughter long enough for Serenity to complete her plan."

"What of you?"

Artemis shook his head and unsheathed his daggers.

"My place is here."

Endymion grabbed Artemis by his wrist. The prince knew there would be swaying him, but he had to try. He didn't want to watch another good friend die senselessly.

"You don't have to die here."

Artemis stared straight forward at the enemy.

"Venus died protecting the queen. I cannot ask her to give her life for a cause I myself am not willing to die for. I'll make my final stand here. I leave my trust in you, Endymion. Protect them! And tell Luna…I love her. Forever. Death won't stop that."

Endymion nodded. "I will, my friend."

"Now go!" said Artemis as he pushed the prince of the Earth away and stepped forward towards Jade with both weapons drawn.

"I'm going to drink your blood after I cut your head off." Jade said with a sadistic grin.

"I'm sorry for what has happened to you, young one. But you won't last as long as it takes to speak those empty words."

Jade scoffed at his would be victim. "Killing you won't be enough."

He stepped back and noticed a glowing object pressed against the doors to the outside war zone. It was a crescent moon that filled him with a white burning light. For a few moments he felt the blackness in his mind melt away and he could think clear once again.

"Beryl is using me to get to you all, and this is how she intends to keep you all safe? A talisman? Magic? You think this will stop Beryl?"

Artemis shook his head.

"There is no stopping what's coming, the queen knows that. If she can just hold your ilk off long enough, perhaps she can salvage what is left of this world. Her good will is a stronger tool than any material we could use to hold that door shut. Use the power of the light and drive out that damned woman's influence! Do you think you can fight it off long enough to help protect these people?"

Jade looked around at the huddled masses cowering in fear. His mind raced with thoughts of his own family being slaughtered, his friends being set against each other, and saw in these people his own suffering. His sympathy soon turned to anger as he remembered the painful procedure in which his own brother held him against his will as Beryl infected his body with pure black energy. It had torn apart every muscle and shattered every bone in his body before rebuilding them with a bond made from hatred and murderous lust. It was a kind of misery he wanted to give to others for reasons he could not justify. He was not himself anymore. Even the purest light could no longer hold away the cruel darkness that had laid dormant inside of him.

Artemis had noticed his pause and could see the turmoil in his face. The queen's protector watched as one of the Earth's most faithful gripped the talisman as tightly as he could. The light was growing dim.

"…..don't do this, Jade. For the love of everything you once believed in, don't give up! If you remove that you've sealed the fate of the entire universe."

The black haired betrayer nodded knowingly.

"My fate will be theirs." he said with a quiver in his voice as he used all of his strength to crush the talisman into a thousand tiny pieces. They began to fall to the floor, glimmering in the candle light of the main hall as they descended. Before they could reach the ground the doors to the castle swung open, revealing an army of horrifically mutated humans that were now mindless monsters, led by the four lords of the new Dark Kingdom, and the queen of darkness herself, Beryl.

But that wasn't the only surprise that came with the opening of the gates to hell.

"VENUS!" Artemis yelled at the top of his lungs.

There, amidst the chaos, was Venus, the leader of the moon's knights, who Artemis had thought to have perished in the courtyard of the castle. She was alive, but just barely. She was held off of the ground by her neck, which found itself in the right hand of Beryl. Her armor was shattered, her clothing shredded. Blood poured out from numerous wounds all over her body and her left leg was completely torn apart and barely hanging on to the rest of her body by the cracked bone. She was breathing as hard as she could as she struggled to hang on to her life. She did so merely out of honor, however. Every agonizing part of her wanted to die.

"Art…em…is…. Help….me…" she managed to force out as the blood filling her lungs forced her breathing into painfully draining breaths of desperation.

Artemis could feel his heart tearing apart on the inside. He had a difficult choice ahead of him and all paths led to sacrifice. He could kill Venus and put her out of her misery, but he would leave himself defenseless to the onslaught that would come. He could rush the rest of the moon kingdom's citizens into a temporary safety, but would surely be cut down by the monsters that stood before him. There was no winning this battle. No choice he could make would be the right one and in the end they were all going to die anyway.

"Let her go, you witch!" he said as he held his daggers defensively.

"You bravery is commendable, little one." Beryl said in a voice that was echoed by another, as if two were talking at once. "However even bravery is no match for sensibility. Look around you. Your armies are crushed, your kingdom burns, and your queens power will soon be ours."

"I said let her go."

Beryl smiled. "Persistency pays off, does it not? Have your wish. Consider it…a diplomatic gift."

She held Venus out and squeezed as tightly as she could around the young girl's neck. The blonde knight's eyes grew large as the pressure built inside of her and the life was choked from her.

"NO!" Artemis screamed as he raced towards the powerful magus.

He would never reach them in time, though. Before he could get even halfway to his beloved friend, Beryl twisted her hand, snapping the girl's neck like a dried branch. She tossed the lifeless body carelessly to the side, as if it were nothing more than an eyesore. Artemis slowed his running and came to a complete stop as Venus' corpse hit the ground with a loud thud and slid across the floor leaving smears of blood in her wake. He dropped to his knees and let go of his weapons, uncaring of his fate or the fate of those around him.

Beryl cackled with glee at the sight of the broken man. She pointed forward at the innocent people inside the hall, some screaming in fear while others prayed quietly with tears in their eyes.

"Feast on them and leave no survivors!"

The demon army rushed forward to a soundtrack of unholy howls and shrieks. The dark energy that had turned Beryl into a God had twisted some of them into bloodthirsty monsters, and there was a considerable feast of innocent flesh before them.

Artemis stayed kneeled on the ground. He heard the coming swarm but couldn't find the strength to do anything about it. He had lost Venus twice today. The first time her fate was unseen, at least. This time he had to witness her horrifying death with his own eyes and that was a sight he could not live with. He reached down for one of his daggers and put it to his own throat.

"I'm sorry, Venus…"

Before he could shove the blade deep into his own flesh he felt the room turn ice cold and the sounds of hell became suddenly muffled. He felt a hand grab his wrist and the dagger was pulled from him and thrown to the side.

"What is the matter with you?" called a familiar stern voice.

He opened his eyes and looked up to see a wall of ice blocking the armies of the fallen Earth kingdom from reaching the innocent people behind him. There next to him was Mercury, the royal tactician, with just about the most disgusted look on her face that he had ever seen.

"Were you going to let these people die without fighting for them?"

"I have no more will to fight. We're just delaying the inevitable."

"If you're not going to fight with me, get these people out."

Artemis listened to the armies outside doing everything they could to get in. They were hammering away at the ice barrier and smashing the castle walls from the outside. They had surrounded the last bastion of hope and were moments away from completely infiltrating.

"And where do you want me to take them? Where should I hide them that Beryl won't find them?"

"I'm not running anymore." called a voice from the mass of huddling people.

Artemis and Mercury looked back at the young woman, merely a subject of the kingdom, as she grabbed a sword from the ground nearby. She was no warrior and could barely lift the sword, but the determination in her eyes made her look fearsome.

"They'll tear you apart." Artemis said solemnly. He admired the girls courage, but doubted her ability.

"They'll do that anyway. I don't want to die crying on the floor."

Mercury looked down at Artemis, who after a moment of reflection stood up and pointed towards the group.

"Everyone, grab whatever you can to defend yourself."

A myriad of cries came from the terrified subjects.

"_Are you serious_?"

"_They'll rip us to shreds_!"

"_We're not soldiers_!"

"_I have children here, who will stay with them_?"

"Quiet!" Mercury said as she watched chunks of ice fall to the ground and the growls of the demons on the other side grew louder. "Die fighting or die hiding. I don't think they'll take mercy on you either way."

The people already looked defeated. They reluctantly armed themselves with whatever they could find. Children picked daggers off of the dead assassins while the stronger men grabbed any blunt object they could. Mothers took a last look at their children, husbands shared one last embrace with their wives, and everyone readied themselves for a last stand worthy of a song to be told throughout the ages.

"Mercury, you go back to Serenity. We'll stay and fight." said Artemis.

The blue haired girl shook her head.

"There is nothing more I can do help them. I'll make my last stand here with my people."

"Any plans for survival?" he asked as the two watched the last part of the ice crumble down and the hellish army make its advance.

"For survival? Not likely. But I didn't come alone. NOW!" she yelled out.

An unseen squadron came running from around a corner, armed with crossbows and flaming bolts. They formed two rows, one ducking in front of the other, who stood valiantly with weapons raised. Mercury grabbed Artemis and jumped to the side as dozens of bolts flew down the corridor and dropped many of earths new army. The Moon Kingdoms last defense dropped their crossbows and raised their swords, and along with the armed civilians rushed into the fray killing as many of the enemy as they could before being struck down one by one. The Dark Kingdoms army fought like vicious beasts, but seemed to have trouble dealing with the inspired ranks of their adversaries.

Kunzite raised his sword high and let out a fierce battle cry. He, Zoisite, Nephrite, and Jadeite rushed into the battle and began to cut down the far less experienced warriors as if they weren't even fighting back. Blood spilled all over the walls as man, woman, and children alike were slaughtered by the four lords.

Jade observed his handiwork with a conflicted look in his eyes. He wanted to stop this but couldn't. He felt like he was no longer in control of himself. He had no choice but to watch the innocent die, and the part of him he couldn't resist took glee in watching it unfold.

Through the chaos came Artemis, leaping through the air and landing on Jade like a lion. They both toppled to the floor and the royal advisor began to stab at the youth repeatedly.

"Die, monster!"

Jade avoided the blows and the two struggled for a dominant position before the agent of Chaos rolled over on top of his foe. He began to punch Artemis over and over in the face as some kind of uncontrollable rage in his black heart fueled him to hit even harder. When he could finally stop himself his victims face was a broken bloody mess.

"…is this…what you…wanted?" Artemis managed to say between labored breaths.

Jades eyes grew black as his inner rage towards what he had done gave even more power to the demon controlling him.

"NOOOOO!" he screamed out as he grabbed both of Artemis' daggers and stabbed them into his fallen opponents chest over and over again until he was covered in fresh blood.

Artemis felt the life slipping out of him. He stared up at the ceiling with an odd sense of peace. He thought once more about Luna. It was some random memory of a day they had spent together on Earth, in a tropical paradise full of sights and sounds that were so unlike the dark still of the Moon. They kissed there and shared an intimate moment that they never got to feel again because of their duties to the Queen. Out of a lifetime of memories he found it odd that it would be his last. But as he remembered the curves around Luna's body, the sun bathing them both in warmth, and the sweet sparkle in her eyes, he drifted off into space and closed his eyes. With his last breath he whispered her name one more time.

Mercury froze in place as she watched his demise at the hands of a man she once called a friend. She formed a great sword of ice in her hands and began to cut down the Earths army as she made her way towards Jade, who merely sat on top of Artemis' corpse with a disturbed look on his face.

"Look what you're brought unto us!"

Mercury was completely aware of her surroundings. She was the last one left. All of the others, soldiers and civilians alike, were laying dead on the ground. The monsters that had murdered them grew closer to her and she had no energy left to do anything.

"This is not what I wanted…" he began to say as he and his other self fought over control. "Please, you have to believe me. I can still make this right…"

He and Mercury shared one final glance of desperation and hatred before the cold hands of a dozen beasts began grabbing at her. She felt her arms and legs being pulled in opposite directions to the point of torn off. The razor sharp teeth of some of earths most twisted monsters sunk into her stomach and neck. As she was literally being torn apart and eaten by the monstrosities she started to laugh. The beasts pulled her in half, separating her at the waist.

"I hope you choke on it!" she cried out one final time as the horrific demons began to feast on her remains.

Jade, paralyzed with too many emotions at once, wondered what he had become before blacking out completely.

With memories lingering, he jolted out of his rest. The bed he laid upon was cold, hard, and offered little in way of comfort. As he looked around the blackened room he thought about how words like 'comfort' and 'joy' meant nothing in the hell he called home. He paced back and forth in his chamber and still felt the effects of the fight he had with those two girls. He had been put on the sidelines along with Jadeite while the others got to spend their time on that beautiful Earth.

Nephrite had been assigned to collect energy for some unknown purpose. He drained it right from the bodies of humans, leaving them mummified corpses.

Zoisite and Kunzite attempted to hunt down whatever would be hero was stalking and killing their people by cover of moonlight.

He and Jadeite, tasked with finding the reincarnated protectors of the Moon Kingdom, had been defeated twice already by a small fraction of them.

But the secret Jade kept, one he had only told his own brother, was that he had allowed himself to be beaten. He had to know if they were strong enough to help him right the wrongs he had committed against the innocent. He knew that girls face, her name, and in his own research everything else from her blood type to her bra size. His interest was bordering on obsession, but he couldn't stop himself.

He reached for an object that shined throughout the darkness without the need of a light source. It was a cross, one he had worn in his past life as a man of God. He felt so far away from that person now. He had done unspeakable things to good people and turned his back on his faith. He wanted to believe he had no choice, but after so many hundreds upon hundreds of years he had forgotten how he came about this existence. He, like all of his brethren, knew only bloodshed and a thirst for Chaos.

But part of him, through some grace of God, kept a piece of his humanity safe from the consuming evil. It was that part of him that kept this foolish belief of stopping Beryl and saving the Earth he swore to protect alive while the others had so easily embraced the darkness. He wanted to save them all, even the family that forced him into this life.

And now, with these girls help, he could finally start his own grand scheme.

"I can still make this right…" he said to himself as the crucifix in his hand began to smoke and burn through his skin. He felt the pain, which gave him a sick kind of comfort. Maybe there was still hope for him after all.

Watching from the chamber entrance was Jadeite. He had recently become aware of his brothers plan to betray their queen and, for some reason he could not explain, had not told anyone else. He couldn't say it aloud but something was changing in him as well. But unlike his younger sibling he had no desire to save the world, either Earth or the one he was stuck in now. It was just a fleeting feeling, some kind of blocked emotion coming and going like a breeze. He knew that Beryl wasn't a fool, and he was putting himself at risk just by feeling _anything_.

Something had to be done. Jade would be the death of both of them otherwise.

Jadeite stared coldly at his brother before turning away and disappearing into the darkness.


	9. Chapter 9

"So how long have you been watching us?"

Luna looked over the top of her sunglasses at the two girls hanging on her every word. To make amends for her grand disappearing act she offered to take Serena and Ami out for ice cream. Despite being on present day Earth for so long she wasn't too sure how to interact with teenagers, but thought that ice cream was a universal peace offering. To her surprise, the two took her up on the offer, albeit on two very different levels of acceptance. Serena jumped at the chance to indulge in free sugar, while Ami took a far more cautious approach. She was completely unfamiliar with this strange woman, and wasn't taken in by her supermodel looks and friendly demeanor.

But Ami _was_ always kind of a bitch.

"I've been looking for you since I discovered my purpose for being reborn. But only recently was Serena's light strong enough for me to be able to see."

"Where are you from?"

Luna took a sip of her drink that had such a complicated name she dared not try to speak it.

"Originally? Japan. The Azabu-Juuban area. But I've been all over the world looking for you girls. Would have been more convenient if you had all been born in the same area, but I guess fate doesn't have any sympathy."

Serena happily munched away at her chocolate ice cream cone while Amy stared intently at the stranger.

"How did you pay for your travels if you were always on the move? Surely you couldn't hold down a job."

"Well, I spent a lot of time…prowling at night, if you know what I mean."

"Prostitution?" Ami asked bluntly, causing Luna to spit her drink into Serena's face.

Serena grabbed a pile of napkins and started to wipe the stickiness from her face as Luna turned her head towards her with a look of complete shock.

"Yeah, she's like that. You'll get used to it." she replied

"N-no!" Luna said, stumbling over her own words. "I…relieved those who had to help those who had not. Such as myself."

"So you're a petty thief."

Luna smirked at Ami. She kind of liked her in your face attitude. It would be a nice counterpoint to Serena's relaxed disposition.

"Oh, no, you should have seen some of the jobs I pulled. Far from petty."

Ami scoffed and put her hands up, as if she were presenting Luna to Serena.

"Her? We're supposed to be following the leadership of an admitted criminal?"

Luna shook her head.

"I'm not your leader. Serena is."

Ami glanced over at Serena, who gave a brief wave as she chomped off a big bite of ice cream. The genius girl slumped back in her seat and sighed.

"The world is doomed."

Her counterpart licked the ice cream off of her lips and smiled brightly. Ami felt guilty about it, but if she looked at her just the right way when she had that dumb ass grin on her face she couldn't help but feel optimistic. For her optimism was a disease.

"Come on, why all the negative vibes? We're all together now, aren't we? Luna has come back to me, and now we can move forward and save the world and get back to our normal lives. For the first time in a long time I feel like everything is just…perfect. I dare you to find someone today that isn't smiling. Except for you." she said as she pointed at Ami, who grimaced at every positive word of encouragement. "You don't count."

"At least I can count."

Luna felt relieved. She was so worried that Serena would hate her for abandoning her she felt physically ill. But now, being together with two girls she watched grow from children into beautiful young women so very long ago, she really did feel like all was right with the world. Still, there was a heavy weight on her heart, for not everyone was rejoicing on this day. For the three it was a time of reunion and renewed hope, while miles away another was saying goodbye for the final time.

Lita stood motionless at the open graves of her mother and father. She wore black, though it was nothing too deviating from her norm. The air was still, the sun was bright, and it was nothing like she envisioned. She couldn't get that damned Evanescence song "My Immortal" out of her head. She had seen "Daredevil" too many times and it had given her the only idea of what a funeral should be like. This was nothing like it. Where was the cracking thunder? Where was the flashes of lightning and dramatic wind? A moment like this deserved some kind of theatrics. Death wasn't supposed to be so accepted, and funerals shouldn't be so pleasant.

Standing around here were relatives she barely knew by name, none of which she knew well enough to call family. She had always been a loner and often opted out of social functions with them. How odd she felt standing side by side with them, watching them cry openly as she struggled to feel anything. Occasionally a memory would flicker inside of her mind like a shorted out light bulb and she could feel a tear wanting to escape, but nothing would come and her thoughts would disappear once more. She felt the eyes of her kin laying upon her and wondered what they were saying to each other. It was the first time in a long time she had cared what anyone thought.

Anyone other than the two laying silent in their open coffins, that is.

For whatever reason her parents had an ability to reach her that she could not stop, no matter how hard she tried. Her mother would barge into her room without knocking, and Lita would welcome her with complete openness. Her father would say the dumbest things when he would try to relate to his teenage daughter, and she would hang on his every word. When the rest of the world wrote her off as a future statistic her parents would make her feel hopeful and accepted, regardless of how many mistakes she made.

The preachers words went in one of her ears and out the other. Words were empty and sentences about the grace of God and a better world were lost on her. She had never accepted nor rejected God. Truth be told she just never really thought about him. She had so many things to deal with being a teenage girl in a country obsessed with sex, image, and the joy of watching people fall. She had enough to deal with and didn't need the stress of figuring out questions that had been asked since people had the intelligence to ask them. Questions lead to more questions and the truth was impossible to find when 'truth' is subjective.

The only truth she knew was the one right in front of her. Her parents were dead, her world shattered, and her future in question. She had already heard the arguments between her aunts and uncles over who she would be burdened on. No one wanted the trouble she brought, but they all felt obligated out of respect for her mother and father. She wished she could speak up in her own defense, but she had none. She felt every bit as worthless as they accused, and her parents were fools for believing in her. She almost felt sorry for them, not so much because they were gone, but because when they were alive they had to cover her sorry ass at every turn. She was expelled from her last school because of a confrontation that left a girl blind in one eye, and her boyfriend, who started the fight when he got caught cheating with Lita, wouldn't be having kids any time soon. She didn't like being played.

But, from her violent nature to her drug abuse, her parents stuck it out and loved her unconditionally. They made her believe love was more than a four letter word. And now, with them going wherever people go when they die, who would love her? Who would take her to dinner and make her wear gay looking dresses in an attempt to look 'normal'? Who would yell at her and cry when she told them to piss off, only to end up stroking her hair when she cried in their lap because she regretted every mean word?

As final goodbyes were said and roses left on top of the now closed caskets, people began to leave the scene of the defining moment in Lita's life. They all went back to their new cars, back to their normal lives with the sadness of loss locked away in their hearts. But there was no normal life for Lita to go back to. This was her life now-alone and forgotten. She had no shadow to live in, nothing to live up to. The remnants of the life she so desperately wanted to hold on to were being lowered into their graves now, and Lita stood alone in front of them as they slowly disappeared into the Earth.

She fought the urge to beg them to stop. She didn't want to never see them again. She wasn't ready for not having them wake her in the morning and force her to school. One of her uncles, a man she knew more by the expensive cologne he bathed in more than any warm memory, had told her before the procession that it would be tough but she was young and would have to move on. He didn't tell her how to move on when she couldn't even find the power to walk away.

There would be proceedings and hearings next to determine words she couldn't comprehend. Regardless of who she ended up with, whichever reluctant relative they saddled her with, she lost herself the moment she saw that news break on that otherwise uneventful day. Nothing they could do to her mattered now. Nothing would matter beyond this finale.

The skies had grown dim with the coming shower that crept up on the Californian city. The wind began to blow gently as drops of rain fell from the heavens and onto her head. She heard thunder somewhere far away and felt that it was as good of an ending as God could have given her.

"See ya." she said softly as she turned away to leave, to go back to nowhere and exist for nothing.

Leaning against a tree in the peaceful graveyard was Nephrite, who had been watching the entire scene with fleeting interest. The ins and outs of these humans were remotely interesting but pointless. Where he came from they did not mourn the dead. There was no ceremony of remembrance or final goodbyes. He couldn't understand why they shed tears over someone else. There was a lot he didn't get about these odd creatures. But smaller than his understanding of them was his interest in their petty existences. They only served one purpose to him, and he had just found the next person to serve that purpose.

"That girl. She's ripe with energy. She is your next target."

Beside Nephrite appeared an odd looking woman a light blue shade of skin and silver hair. She, like the other 'lesser' members of the Dark Kingdom, was once a normal woman of Earth who had been twisted by Metallia's evil will. Though she had changed she was still quite lovely, and despite the odd skin and tail she seemed to have grown she was about as normal as they came in that place.

"Her? What's so-"

"-special about her?" finished another girl, who appeared on the other side of Nephrite. She was identical to the other in every way, except for her red skin and black hair. The two were Castor and Pollux, twins loyal to each other and Nephrites strongest servants.

"Her loss has intensified her spirit. I can taste the sorrow and anger in her heart. Follow her, use your powers to raise her energy even more, and when she is at her peak, feed on her."

"She just lost her family, do you think she's really-" Castor started to say, her voice showing a hint of compassion.

"-deserving to be a target?" Pollux finished once more, showing disdain for her counterparts question. "She's perfect. Do you have sympathy for-"

"-those creatures? Of course not! I just think there are-"

"-better candidates? Are you questioning master-"

"-Nephrite? Of course not. That girls energy will be-"

"-yours, my lord." Pollux said confidently as the twins kneeled before the mighty warrior.

Nephrite cared little for their bickering. He had kept his eyes on the pastor who was making his way alone through the cemetery.

"You have your mission. Leave me."

"Yes, my lord." they said as one before disappearing into thin air.

Nephrite, clad in the uniform he had died and been reborn in, walked calmly towards the man of God. The two crossed paths and stopped in front of each other. As the elderly priest looked up at the strangely dressed man he smiled warmly.

"Anything I can help you with?"

Nephrite glared at him. He wasn't known for smiling when he was still alive, and his dark rebirth had changed very little in that sense. He had also carried a grudge with him against anything related to the existence of God. His time in servitude to Beryl had made him bitter, both towards his own kind and the ones he killed without mercy or sympathy on this planet. He had no love for the monsters he sorted with, but had even less patience for those who still believed so blindly in words like 'hope'. Nothing embodied that more than a man of the cloth. If he were to suffer as a servant of Chaos, everyone would suffer with him.

"How can you believe in something you've never seen?" he asked coldly.

The priest gave a short chuckle. It wasn't the first time he had his faith called into question, although in his experience arguing over beliefs never achieved much. God didn't really need to be defended against the questions of mere mortals. Still, the chance of converting one of millions was worth the effort.

"I could ask you how you could refuse to believe in something you've never seen for yourself. It's called faith for a reason, son."

"I've seen monsters, I've seen demons, but I've never seen a higher power worthy of worship. Just ones that force you into servitude." 

"If you've seen the things you claim to, don't you believe there has to be an alternative? That for evil to exist there must be good?"

"Good and evil are empty terms. They're labels placed by lower beings to influence other lower beings. All of the monsters and demons I've seen have been born from good, or at least those who claim to be. How can God allow evil to corrupt his creation?"

"God doesn't allow anything. You have your own mind, and it is up to you to decide what you believe in. The good Lord gave you the option to believe in whatever you want. Have you ever talked to the Lord? Have you ever tried opening your heart to him?"

Nephrite scoffed as he brushed his long brown hair from his left eye.

"Words quoted right from a sermon. Don't you people have any original thoughts? I know a man who once believed in God." he said as his mind passed over thoughts of Jade and the life they had known before. "He murdered hundreds of innocent people. Where was your God then? Resting on his throne? Watching the world crumble? Why can the Devil influence where he cannot? Is he weak? Is he afraid? Or is he a creation of weak hearted fools like you and your lot. You're so afraid to face what's beyond your own little world it's pathetic."

"If that is what you believe, then you've already been lost. Can I ask you a question?"

Nephrite reached out and grabbed the man by his throat. He began to choke the life out of him as a strange aura appeared around them both. The priests eyes bulged out as he struggled to breathe, all the while his skin began to wrinkle and tighter around his bones. His life was literally being stolen and transferred to the Godless heathen for some reason unbeknownst even to Nephrite. Much like the man he was killing with his bare hand, it was not his place to question.

It was called faith for a reason, regardless of which side you believed in.

The man was barely recognizable now, as he had become nothing more than a mummified corpse. Nephrite tossed his deformed carcass to the side, slamming it against a statue of an angel with enough force to break it in half.

"No. You may not."

He spit on the fallen body before vanishing.

At school a few days later, Serena stood at her locker fumbling around for books for her next class. She was never the most punctual or organized girl, but what she lacked in fundamentals she made up for in laziness. As she pushed aside books, comics, magazines, and bags in the stuffed locker the text she was looking for fell out and at the bottom of another students feet. She leaned down to grab the book, and looked up at the person as she apologized. Her heart rose to the back of her throat as she saw the blank stare of Lita looking straight forward, ignoring everything she said.

"Your name is Lita, right?"

The solemn girl began to walk forward without replying. Determined to free herself of the guilt she felt over bad mouthing the rebellious girl in the past, Serena followed. Ami had told her what had happened recently and she felt the need to say something about it.

"Lita, I want you to know I'm sorry for the things I said before."

"Why, because my parents are dead?" responded Lita as she continued to walk.

"What?"

"Lots of people have suddenly found a soft spot for me now that I'm an orphan. Thanks for the pity. I'll put your name on the list and be sure to send a card out to you later."

Serena wanted to call her a bitch and tell her to screw herself, but she had no idea what the pain of such a loss would do to a person. She didn't want to start a fight, partly because of her own sympathy for the girl and because she didn't want to look like a bad guy for picking on someone who just lost their family.

"I'm not pitying you. I just wanted to say that I'm sorry about what happened to your parents. If you ever need anything, just let me know."

Lita stopped in her tracks. She turned around and grabbed Serena by her shirt and pushed her hard against the lockers that lined the hall, knocking the books from her hand as she did so.

"Why? You didn't give a fuck about me before you heard about poor little Lita's parents. In fact, this whole school didn't care whether I lived or died. But now because I don't have a family to go home to, you all want to act like you're my best friends. Well I already had best friends, and you know where they are now? Six feet deep. You don't know me, you didn't know them. So fuck off, you little kiss ass."

"Lita!" called out Molly, who would had been heading to her next class and noticed the scene.

The troubled girl pushed Serena one more time and let her go. The fear in the popular girls eyes brought no joy or excitement to Lita. She told herself she just wanted to be left alone, but couldn't explain why she bothered going to school where she would be surrounded by people. Part of her wanted to be comforted, but she would never admit that part of her existed. She made her exit into her next class, brushing her shoulder against Molly's and pushing her back a bit as she walked away.

"You ok?" Molly asked Serena, who stared forward with a scared look on her face.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I just don't understand. What did I say to her?"

Molly shook her head.

"Sometimes you don't have to say anything. You don't know how it feels to be hurt like that. Sometimes words just don't matter." she said, remembering her own hurt recently over her sudden detachment from her best friend.

Serena grabbed her books from the ground and fixed her shirt.

"I guess so. I feel bad for her, but I don't know what to do about it."

Molly forced a smile to try to hide the tears that were welling up in her own eyes.

"Don't do anything. That's what you're good at now, isn't it?" she asked as she glared one last time at the girl she once called her sister.

Molly walked past her without looking back once. Serena stood there speechless as the bell for the next hour rang. She would get written up for it but she didn't care. She had been a terrible friend lately, and she couldn't even tell her best friend why. She wanted to call out to Molly and tell her everything, about the past, about Chaos, about her very destiny.

But how do you tell someone that? Would they even entertain the notion? She hadn't the first time she heard it from Luna's lips. Sometimes she still didn't. She seemed to have collected new friends in her blossoming journey of self discovery and heroism, but in that moment she realized the truth behind them. Luna watched over her out of a promise to her queen, Ami talked to her out of responsibility to save the world. But her true friends, the ones that cared about her when she was nothing but a meaningless little foreign girl, had turned their back on her.

The worst part is she knew she deserved it, and at that very moment she felt completely alone once again.

That night Lita returned to her empty home, a near mansion filled with pictures and objects that belonged to her parents. It was like her very own tomb, with painful memories strewn about to remind her of how alone she was as well.

She threw her book bag on the floor- anywhere would do. It's not like there was anyone to object to her sloppiness. She went to the kitchen to fix whatever they had left in the refrigerator. It didn't matter what it was. She really had no interest in eating, but she hadn't had anything in two days and was starting to feel light headed whenever she moved. She grabbed a sandwich that had been wrapped up and took a big bite out of it. She spit it out on the floor immediately afterward.

Tomatoes.

She hated tomatoes.

Her mother loved them though. She'd try to put them on every damn thing in a failed attempt to get her to eat healthier. Lita rewrapped the sandwich and put it back in the fridge. She didn't even think about who she was saving it for, it just seemed like second nature. She looked around inside for something else to eat and spotted a 20 oz. bottle of soda. She grabbed it instead and took a swig, only to discover it had been flat for days. In her anger she threw the bottle against a nearby wall, sending Pepsi everywhere. With a sigh she walked over to clean it up but spotted a photo of her mother on the wall. A look of anger came over her face and she chose to ignore the mess.

She threw off her shirt and pants and stripped down to her bra and small boy shorts as she made her way to the bedroom. She closed the door behind her, even though there was no one to walk in on her anymore. Her family status was in limbo, and until they figured out what to do with her they were letting her live on her own at her parents home. Her parents had left her the house and their fortune anyway, so its not like she was in danger of being homeless or starving. She just chose not to eat.

She raised her head suddenly and looked in the mirror. Her eyes were wide with a couple of tears, but not because of her sadness. She had a little bit of white powder under her nose, which she wiped off quickly. She had been an on again/off again drug user for a couple of years now. It had gone from dabbling with cigarettes to smoking pot to try to fit in, only to be laughed at by the people she was trying to impress. With the death of her parents she started using harder drugs.

Their money had to be good for something.

Lita stared at herself in the mirror. There were bags under her eyes from not sleeping since the funeral. Her hair was a complete mess, and she looked so out of it and ugly that she barely recognized herself. For a moment she wondered what her parents would think of her if they saw her now. That thought went away as she leaned down for another snort.

She put away her recreational tools and unhooked her bra. She pulled it away from her chest and slid her underwear off. She tossed it aside before she climbed in the shower to try to wash off some of her guilt. She turned the knob for the hot water and nothing happened.

Whether it was because of the death of her brain cells or her tragic loss, she had forgotten that the hot water heater was screwed up. Her dad was going to call someone about it the day he died.

Lita climbed out of the shower again and looked for a towel to cover herself with, but hadn't remembered to bring any in with her. Frustrated she went to grab her underwear when she caught another look at herself in the mirror.

Who was this person looking back at her? What kind of stupid, useless, unwanted fuck up had she become?

She thought about her parents again. Thoughts of them had come and gone the past few days, but she tried to block them out as quickly as possible. She wanted to move on and living in their memory wouldn't help her cause. But this time she couldn't shake it. She needed a drink. Or to watch TV. She would have taken anything to get her mind away from her loved ones. Maybe she should do some more drugs.

She walked out of the bathroom and headed to the kitchen when she saw her mom, as beautiful as ever, standing there cooking something that smelled great. She smiled at her daughter, who turned away to see her dad sitting on the couch watching wrestling. He didn't really care for it but knew how much she loved the athleticism. He patted the spot next to him, but Lita turned around completely. She closed her eyes and felt her heart racing. It felt like it was going to run right away from her and leave her there to die. When she opened her eyes the memories were gone, but staring her right in the face was a picture of the three of them from when she was a little girl. They were all smiling, as happy a family as you would ever see, in a time far before peer pressure and self hatred.

Lita couldn't stand the pain anymore. She grabbed a nearby object and threw it at the picture, shattering both her mothers expensive vase and the glass surrounded by a wooden frame. She couldn't stop herself there. She grabbed anything she could in an attempt to destroy everything she had. She threw a chair at the television, smashed cups and plates with a pan, and wrecked anything and everything she could get her hands on.

She cursed her parents name while she did so, asking them why would leave her alone like this. She cursed God too, calling him heartless and cruel and forsaking any comfort he might offer her before resuming her path of destruction. She broke every picture she saw and punched the walls out of sheer rage before running into her room. She collapsed on the bed and cried for a few seconds before standing back up and wreaking havoc in there as well. She destroyed her dolls that were in her closet from when she was a child and ripped off every poster of every emo band that made her believe they understood how she felt.

She ran back into the living room and didn't even have the energy to fight anymore. She fell to her knees and started pounding the hard wood beneath her. Images of her parents overloaded her mind as they raced through it. She had bottled up how much she missed her mom and dad until it spilled over and left her crying on the floor, completely naked, her hands bruised and bloodied from her rampage.

She would have given anything to have them comfort her now.

It was 2:39 AM. Serena heard a gentle knocking on their homes front door. Her parents slept like the dead and hadn't woken yet. Her brother was just plain lazy and probably ignored it even if he had heard it. She was in her panties and a t-shirt that was long enough to cover everything, so she didn't feel the need to get dressed to answer it. That, and she was so tired she probably wasn't thinking straight. At nearly three in the morning a strange knock on the door would probably deserve more caution.

She made her way through her house, knocking her foot against a table leg as she headed towards the door. She cursed under her breath and rubbed her toe before she sleepily opened the door without hesitation.

Standing outside was Lita, bloody, shaking in the chilly night air, in nothing but a ripped shirt and underwear with a blanket covering half of her.

Serena woke up immediately and had a puzzled look on her face as the two stared each other down.

"Lita? What are you doing here?"

Lita looked down at the ground in shame.

"I kind of destroyed my house."

"Oh." Serena said, not quite sure what that meant but attempting to be nice.

"About earlier…" Lita said as she pulled the blanket up over more of her exposed skin, "I don't think you're a kiss ass and I don't want you to fuck off. I'm not used to people being nice to me, and I thought you hated me, because I hated you, but I didn't know why. You had everything and I thought I didn't have anything, but I had my parents, and now I don't, and now I really don't have anything and it sucks."

Serena could see how hard she was trying to speak calmly and plainly, but her words were coming out awkward and bordered on rambling.

"Look, I'm sorry? I'm sorry I'm such a fuck up and I was a complete bitch to you. I'm sorry, okay? I'm sorry!" she yelled, ignorant of the fact that it was so early in the morning.

Serena heard movement behind her. Her parents had started stirring because of the loudness.

"Its okay, don't worry about it. Apology accepted. But…what are you doing here?"

"I can't stay in that house anymore. Not alone. I'm afraid of what I'm going to do. And you said if I needed anything to let you know, and…well…" she said as she looked at Serena with genuinely sad eyes, begging for someone to reach out to her. "Can I stay with you?"

It was an odd request to say the least. The two had never gotten along before, had never exchanged words that weren't mean spirited, and just today Lita had physically threatened her when she was trying to be nice. Still, Serena saw a different person standing before her than the one that she had despised for quite a while now. She also knew what it felt like to be alone right now and saw this as a chance to start mending fences so she could make a positive change in her life.

"Sure. Come on in." she said as she stood out of the way for Lita to enter.

As she expected her parents were standing there in the living room with a confused look on their face.

"This is Lita. She's a friend from school."

Lita waved politely.

"Hi."

"It's a long story and I promise I'll explain it all in the morning, but…can Lita stay with us for a while?"

Her parents looked at each other, puzzled and concerned about whatever was transpiring in their home at three in the morning.

"My parents died." Lita said, unsure of what to say but hoping it would help.

"Of course you can, dear." Serena's mother Barbara said as she walked over to Lita and pulled her blanket up to cover her completely more. She started to walk her towards the bathroom to get the cuts on her hands bandaged and the blood stains scrubbed off.

"Serena…" Kenji started to say as he looked at his daughter, searching for the right questions to ask.

"In the morning, dad. Promise."

"Right."

He turned around and headed back towards his bedroom. He had to be up in the morning for work, just as she did for school. Serena closed the front door and headed for her own bedroom, unsure of what was going on, but feeling strangely right about it. Despite the way her day went, she felt like she could sleep well that night. At least, for another 2 or 3 hours before she had to get up again.

Lita would definitely hear about that in the morning. 


	10. Chapter 10

Shingo Tsukino, younger brother to would be heroine Serena, had put up with a lot of nonsense from her. She was whiny, inconsiderate, selfish, and just an all around girl. Since he could remember she had done nothing but brought misery and misfortune to his admittedly short existence.

But this morning would be a tad different.

His alarm clock went off like it did every weekday and he shuffled out of bed like the over achiever he strived to be. Before putting his shirt on he flexed in the mirror a bit and brushed the black hair out of his face. He had a lot to do today, just like every other day, with school and after school activities that related indirectly to school. He was a very school oriented person. He wanted to impress and leave his mark on the world even at an early age, unlike his slacker older sister.

He grabbed clothes to change into and made his way towards the bathroom when he was cut off by someone. He was still fairly sleepy and wasn't very focused yet, so he just assumed it was Serena trying to get the bathroom before him.

He rubbed his eyes and stared forward, mouth hanging wide open, as some strange tall girl busting out of a white tank top and tiny underwear that failed in their attempt to completely cover her butt sped past him. She turned around as she entered the bathroom and saw the shocked expression on his face.

"I'll try to hurry." she said as she slammed the door shut.

Shingo, speechless, required a few seconds to get his bearings.

"That's Lita."

He turned his head right to see Serena, covered in her blanket, staring at him hatefully.

"If you so much as breathe on her I'll kick your face into the dirt. Got it?"

The nearly incoherent boy shook his head.

"And don't stare at her ass." she warned before retreating back into her room to gather her school clothes.

"MOM!" Shingo yelled as he ran towards the kitchen to find out what the hell was going on.

At the breakfast table, the youngest member of the Tsukino family sat cautiously as he eyed the buxom young girl who had invaded his home chomp away happily on French toast in another room.

"It's just for a few days. I think. I haven't really asked her yet." Serena said at the emergency family meeting.

"This is completely unfair. We can't have some half naked girl walking around the house!" her younger brother piped up.

"I agree with Shingo. Serena, you need to tell your friend to put on more clothes when she's walking around." their father added.

"Why, were you looking?" his daughter asked.

"Serena, watch it!" her mother replied before giving her husband one of those looks that demanded an explanation. Kenji's eyes opened wide as he tried to think of the best possible explanation that wouldn't result in physical or mental abuse towards him. Luckily, he would be saved by his observant son.

"I'm an impressionable youth. Don't you think I'll have some kind of trauma related to this in the future? Accidentally catching your sister naked is bad enough, but having to watch as one of her skanky friends trots around in the safety of your own home just screams counseling."

"What are you, gay?" Serena asked.

"No!"

Gay? Absolutely not.

However, he was confused, excited, and tingly in unconventional places. He had always known Serena had cute friends and was fine with it. Molly was pretty hot, but her vapid teen girl image wasn't really for him. He much preferred his sisters new friend Ami. She was really pretty, smart, and seemed to share a common dislike for Serena.

But then again, Ami wasn't exactly busting out all over like this girl was. She was exceptionally curvy, ridiculously hot in that emo/scene girl kind of way, and the fact that she paraded around in her panties made Shingo think thoughts that should probably come later in his childhood.

"I'm sorry about how she looked this morning. I let her borrow some of my clothes, and she's, well, bigger than me in some places. But we'll go get some of her stuff tonight so she's not as exposed."

"She can't stay here. I forbid it."

"Well aren't you a little Napoleon."

"Spell Napoleon!"

"Sure! S-H-I-N-G-O! Although maybe we should drop the G-O and add a T!"

"Slut!" Shingo fired back as the two argued back and forth.

Their parents, used to this form of 'love,' chose to stay out of it.

"What should we do?" Irene asked, ignoring the yelling match.

"Well…she does seem nice, and I do feel bad about her parents. I guess there can't be any harm in letting her stay a couple of days."

"As long as she doesn't tantalize you with her perky teenage body, right?"

Kenji looked back at his wife with wide eyes again.

"Yeah. You and I are going to have a talk later. But for now, you better get ready for work." she said as she gave an odd smile that seemed to be a tad misleading. "And you kids for school!" she added, smacking her hand against the table, immediately stopping the war between brother and sister.

"That's ok, I didn't plan on going today." Lita said as she turned on the TV in the living room and stretched out on the couch.

Kenji stared forward in disbelief as Irene slowly turned her head and stared at Serena.

"Did I mention her parents died?" she said with her most sincere look plastered on her pretty young face.

Some time later, as Lita and Serena filed into the front doors of high school along with the crowds, the newest resident of the Tsukino residence sighed out loud.

"Your mom is pretty harsh."

"For making you go to class?" Serena replied.

"Yeah. I mean, what's up with that?"

Serena stared quizzically at her. "You're going to have to tell me more about this fantasy world you come from."

Lita shook her head. "You wouldn't like it."

Inside of the main hub of the school, Serena noticed Ami making her way towards the duo. She looked as serious and goal oriented as ever. It was going to be another fun day in Tsukino-World. Who wouldn't look forward to a day full of overwhelming responsibility and painful disappointment, without a chance of being normal or enjoying a day with loved ones?

That was assuming she had any loved ones left. She hadn't really talked to Molly in weeks. There was an occasional hello in the hallway, but it seemed to be masked under some kind of underlying anger between the two now. She knew she had been a terrible friend lately. It wasn't so easy to give a reason why though, and for everyone's safety, and so no one thought she was a nut job, Serena seemed to play the role of bad guy and let the world think ill of her.

She wasn't completely alone though. After all, she had just made nice with Lita. And, of course, there was always sweet natured Ami, who would rather spit on her than do anything remotely fun or endearing.

Such was life for an alleged savior.

"Serena. You're on time. Why?"

The half Asian teenager looked down at her feet as she replied. Even after all this time knowing Ami Mizuno she felt humbled by her whenever they were together.

"Is that so strange?"

Ami almost cracked a smile. Almost.

"Strange? No. Not for normal students. I just figured you'd be hung over or something."

Lita stepped between the two and pushed Ami back a bit. An angry look came over her as she stood in front of the genius girl, towering over her by a good 4 or 5 inches.

"You have a problem with her? Take it up with me, bitch."

Ami looked around the Amazon to Serena with eyes widened with surprise and a bit of fear. People threatened her all the time, that came with being smarter than everyone else and not being afraid to show it. But this was the first time she feared for her own safety because of it!

"Serena?"

Serena hesitated for a moment. She knew she should step in and stop this confrontation, but the thought of Ami getting knocked on her ass brought a smile to her face. She had it coming after all the verbal abuse she put our heroine through.

Serena sighed. Why did she have to be so damn nice?

"It's okay. Ami is a…friend of mine. She doesn't mean anything by it. You kind of have to get used to her."

Ami looked up into Lita's pained eyes and decided to throw caution to the wind and back down on this one.

"Since when did you defend someone else? I didn't know you cared enough about humanity to stand up for one of its own, as insignificant as it may be."

Lita smirked. She wasn't used to people standing up to her. With her size and her poor attitude she was used to other prissy little girls running for the hills whenever she entered the room. She couldn't believe that this tiny little brain with boobs was actually mouthing off to her.

She kind of liked it.

"Last time I checked, you didn't know a damn thing about me. So piss off, before I break your glasses and your nose with one punch."

Ami straightened the glasses on her face as she began to recite the data she had collected on the rebellious violent girl that stood before her.

"Nolita Greenwood, born in New York to David and Sophia Greenwood, who died tragically in a recent plane crash. Your violent attitude has gotten you kicked out of multiple schools, but your family has enough power and money to cover up your incidents so you could continue what I laughably call an education. And, off the record, I think you're one of the worst examples of the school system. You're a ticking time bomb, rude, vulgar, and you probably won't live to see past your 18th birthday."

Lita squinted at the tiny girl. Serena could feel the tension between the two and feared that Ami was about to get far worse than she had ever wished upon her. She backed up a few feet as she waited for the bloodshed to begin. To everyone's surprise, there was no maelstrom of fury and violence. No one would die today, as a big smile came over the brunette's face and she stuck a finger right in Ami's direction.

"I thought I recognized you! You're the gay girl that kept staring at my breasts in the locker room!"

Ami's eyes grew larger with horror as she noticed the people around her starting to whisper to each other as their gaze hung on her like a sign of guilt.

"I… I have to go. Serena, roof top at lunch." she said as she quickly gathered herself and stormed off of the scene to a chorus of chattering and uncomfortable gazes.

Serena laughed out loud as the feeling of seeing someone get what they deserve coated her spirit.

"That was pretty awesome."

Outside the building, a handsome young man with short black hair stared at the high school doors in front of him.

"_This has to be the place_. " he thought to himself as he watched people file inside to go to their morning classes.

A security guard noticed the man standing and staring, and with what happened to that other high school still fresh in everyone's minds, he decided not to take any chances. He strolled over to the young man and calmly asked him if he needed help with anything. The stranger seemed polite enough, but there was something unsettling about him.

"Do you have a student here named Nolita Greenwood?" the young man asked.

"I'm sorry sir, I can't give out that kind of information even if I knew."

"Her parents died recently. The crash is all over the news. So many dead, but she's the only local with a connection to it and a piece like this would put me on the map. Tragedy makes for great headlines, you know." he said as he flashed a smile and winked.

The security guard was deeply disturbed by the man's upbeat attitude over such a horrible event but tried to remain personable.

"I'm sorry friend, I didn't catch your name."

The strange young man pulled out a business card and put it in the guard's front pocket.

"Didn't give it. By the way, I know she's in there. When you see her give that to her. She'll thank you later for it, I promise." he said as he turned around and walked away whistling a jaunty tune.

The guard pulled the card out of his pocket and read aloud its inscription.

"Darien Shields, reporter? You gotta be kidding me." he said to himself as he balled up the card and threw it to the ground. They were like vultures and had been circling the school ever since the plane crash. But there was something different about this guy. He seemed otherworldly and sent chills down the guards spine. Despite that he quickly put the incident out of his mind. It wasn't like he really cared about what happened to the girl. He was just doing his job. In fact, as he looked at his watch his attitude perked right back up. It was almost time to eat!

By the time lunch rolled around Serena could feel her stomach trying to eat itself. She would love to go to the cafeteria and sit with Melvin and Molly and chow down on everything in sight, but she knew that nowadays "lunch time" meant "study time," except instead of lessons she would be lectured by someone who was supposed to be working for her, about a destiny she didn't really want any part of. To add to that stress she had more or less killed her relationship with her old friends and rediscovered her former path of self loathing and the inability to fit in.

And then there was the last person in the world she ever thought she would be talking to. The girl she once despised for no real reason was the closest thing to a friend she had anymore. She found herself in the hallway with the girl, and a bunch of questions to go right along with her.

"So your first name is Nolita?"

Lita nodded. "My mom was born in the Nolita borough of Manhattan. Nolita stands for North of Little Italy, she used to tell me. She didn't have a lot of money and was a waitress in college, but she met my father there, and he was studying to be an attorney. He did pretty well for himself and they moved away to California for a partnership, but mom never wanted me to forget where we came from, so she named me after her old neighborhood. Sounds like a good plan, but I got teased a lot in grade school. They called me Lolita and linked me to every teacher we had. I shortened it to just Lita, although eventually I moved around enough and kept my distance from new people so nobody cared to know my name anymore."

"I can't believe it. YOU were teased? Who was suicidal enough to do that?"

Lita laughed.

"I wasn't always this way. I used to be a lot like you. I had a good family and a lot of happy memories."

Serena knew she needed to get to the rooftop to avoid the wrath, but she felt the need to pry. This was a side of this girl that didn't seem to be on display very often and she needed to take every opportunity.

"What happened?"

Lita thought about all of the mistakes she had made. All of the guys she had been with, the people she had hurt, and the rampant drug abuse she had somehow kept secret from everyone. Fate had taken away her chance to redeem herself, and every moment of every day she felt worthless and hated who she was.

"Its funny how you become rebellious without a cause to fight for. I mean, you're not a hero. You're not standing up for something. You're privileged, you have everything you could want, and you throw it at all away. For no good reason. You do it just so you won't be you anymore. You can't explain it, you just…run. And you keep running because if you stop it all catches up to you and you've gone too far to go back. And then, after you've run away from everything you should have embraced, you look back and you can't see any of it anymore. Either you pushed them away or they were taken from you. You don't have anywhere else to go, so you keep running and hope there is something better on the horizon."

Serena could feel her own emotions coming to the surface while listening to this girl she felt she didn't know at all pour her heart out. She had been running too. She was still running. She wanted to escape from everything she had in life - her broken heritage, her reputation, her responsibilities, and especially her own mistakes. She had no idea there was someone else in this world that felt the same way as her.

Lita looked at her with glassy eyes.

"I fucked up. I fucked up bad."

Serena looked at a nearby clock. She was late. As much as she hated leaving Lita like this, and especially having to get an earful from Ami, she knew it was vital to the very existence of the planet itself.

"I have to go meet Ami. I'd ask you to come along, but…" she said, wishing she could tell Lita the reason behind her strange behavior.

"It's ok. I shouldn't have barged into your life and dumped all my misery on you. I'm just not feeling like myself lately."

Serena gave her a reassuring smile.

"Or maybe you're starting to remember who you really are?" she said as she headed towards the stairway. She turned to face her newfound friend before she made her way up to Ami. "By the way, you're wrong. You had somewhere to go. My house! And I'm glad you did. Tonight, you, me, and Trivial Pursuit. Bring you're a game."

Lita smirked. The thought of board games with a girl she would have stuffed in a locker just a couple of days ago seemed way too radical to deal with sober. She reached into her pocket and rolled a small bag of cocaine around in her hand. Her smirk fell into a look of hopelessness. She couldn't help herself. She couldn't deal with any of this. She didn't want to be herself anymore today and this was the only way she could dull the sensation.

She walked towards a nearby bathroom and hoped no one would notice her. She had no idea someone was watching her every move closely from the shadows.

Somewhere between this dimension and his own, Nephrite watched the girl self destruct with an arrogant smile. Her descent would give way to an incredible amount of energy, all for the revival of their lord and savior Metallia.

And even unknown to the mighty Nephrite, watching him from the same crossroads, was Jade. He stared intently at his fellow knight of darkness. He could feel it too. It would all change soon, and he hoped he was making the right decision.

After tonight, the lines would be drawn and there truly would be no turning back.


	11. Chapter 11

Lita stared at herself in the bathroom mirror.

Her nose bled a little from her excursion into self indulgence, but she easily wiped it away with the sleeve of her shirt. Harder to get rid of was her sense of guilt, a feeling she had a harder time facing down since the death of her parents.

She never considered it really evil. Sure, it was illegal, and there were tons of studies that proved the dangers of drug abuse. But it was her body, wasn't it? She didn't cause anyone harm but herself and she felt that was her God given right.

Lately, with the death of her family and her cocaine induced breakdown in the home she had shared with them for years, it was harder to convince herself it was OK. Yet, at the same time, the desire for self destruction was overwhelming. It was starting to go beyond the drugs and self loathing. She was starting to fantasize about her own demise.

Cutting was for girls. She didn't want to die in such a stereotypical female way to die. She had put her father's gun to her head on more than one occasion in the wake of his passing, but she couldn't bring herself to pull the trigger. What if something went wrong? What if she didn't end her life and became a vegetable?

Even more frightening than living was living trapped in your own body, with no voice or control. 

Death seemed like such a weak way out. She could hear parents voice in her head, cheering her on to fight against the darkness and made a life for herself. But she wasn't as strong as they were. She had never been strong internally. It was an odd irony for a girl that could easily kick the ass of most guys put in front of her.

Odd was a word that seemed underwhelming for what she had been going through. For most people an odd life would be full of a few quirks and occasional rarities. But her life had more twists and turns lately than a cheaply written fan fiction story - dead parents, self appointed outcast from society, and worsening drug habit that she so desperately wanted to kick.

She had no idea how she ended up in the same room as Serena Tsukino but she had it on good faith that 'powdering her nose' had something to do with it.

Faith.

That was a concept lost to her. She really only had faith in one thing anymore. She had faith that the drugs would make the world go away. And even if it were for just a few moments of peace, it would be worth the damnation.

Unbeknownst to her, 'faith' was about to come back into her life, whether she wanted it to or not.

"I don't suppose you could help me, could you?"

Lita turned her head slightly and looked over her shoulder towards the door, where a raven haired beauty stared right back.

"I'm lost."

Lita eyed the girl up and down while trying to hide the obviousness of what she was doing. The girl was a little taller than Serena and Ami, and like them she also appeared to be Asian. She was dressed in a school uniform - Catholic by the looks of it. Her skirt seemed to be a bit short for a religious uniform, but did great service to her perfect long legs. More noticeable than that was the crucifix that hung around the girls neck. It was silver, polished to perfection, and shone brightly against the bathroom light's reflection.

"Although…you look you might be more lost than I am. What do you think?"

Lita slowly and indiscriminately moved her stash back into her pocket. She turned to face down this strange new girl, and she wasn't in the mood to hear about anyone's great plans for her. She no interest being a pawn in any game of fate.

"I think you picked the wrong day."

The girl gave a weak smile.

"It's never the wrong day to save yourself, Nolita."

Lita's ears perked up. This was unexpected. Another girl who knew more about her than she cared to give out? Between this one and that smart ass brilliant idiot, she was starting to wonder who was blogging about her life.

"Another one? Who are you? Who sent you to talk to me?"

'My name is Rei, and would you believe that a higher power sent me to help you?"

"_Oh God, not this, not today…_" Lita thought to herself. This was the last thing she needed.

"A higher power? Fuck off. I'm not in the mood for your savior."

"Actually, I was talking about Patricia Haruna. She helped me through the death of my mother and told me you had gone through something pretty tragic yourself recently. I just came by to see if you wanted to talk about it."

Lita chuckled a little bit. Speaking was never her strong point and she related to Joe Biden in the sense that her mouth got her in more trouble than she really intended.

"Well, I don't. Thanks for asking though." she said as she made her way towards the door which was currently being blocked off by one of God's beauties.

"You know, there is no harm in asking for help. From me, your teachers, or anyone else." she said as she clutched her cross. "We all lose faith sometimes. The goal isn't to stay strong forever, its to pick yourself up when you're weak and fall. I don't know anything about you other than what she told me, but I know enough from experience to tell you that hiding away from the world, suppressing your anger and your guilt…it will kill you. If you don't kill yourself first."

That stung Lita right in the chest. She had been thinking about how peaceful and easy death would be recently. In a way she envied her parents for being free from this world and all its evils. And, at the same time, she hated them for leaving her there to deal with it all on her own. Yet, when someone tried to extend their hand to her in an act of kindness, she slapped it away. She didn't understand herself, and whether it was the drugs or her own stubbornness, right now she didn't want to think about it.

"I appreciate the fact you want to help. I think what you people do is really nice, honestly I do. But I don't care, do you understand me? Go preach to someone else. I'm sure they deserve it more anyway."

Rei nodded slightly and stepped out of the way. Lita walked past her without looking at her, and even though she felt guilty about how she was acting she thought it would be the best for everyone. She didn't want anyone losing sleep over her. Her stand off attitude was a natural defense mechanism for her, and so far it had kept her alive.

If you could call what she was doing being 'alive,' that is.

"You know, Nolita, God isn't the pushy, selfish, intrusive overlord that a lot of people portray him as."

Lita stopped for a moment and listened to Rei finish her 'sermon.' For the way she had been acting she owed her that, at least.

"All he wants is what's best for you. He works through your friends, your family, and sometimes even random strangers who invade your personal space in the girls restroom at school. If you ever get a chance, try talking to him personally if you don't want to talk to anyone else. You might feel better."

Lita scoffed. She had never needed him before and as far as she knew he really didn't give a damn about her either.

"Whatever…" she said quietly as she started walking again.

Rei stared at the defiant girl as she escaped. She knew forgiveness and understanding was a long hard procedure. She had been there herself and knew how painful acceptance of life's cruelty was. She really wanted to help this girl before it was too late, and she became lost to her own demons.

"One more thing."

Lita turned around with a bitchy look on her otherwise pretty young face. She was starting to get real fed up with the little angel on her shoulder.

"What?" she said as harshly as she could.

"You may want to wipe off your nose before you go to class. You still have a little powder under it." she said before turning and walking away before she could face any kind of retribution.

Lita stood dumbfounded in the middle of the hall, ashamed and alone once more.

"Any updates?"

Ami looked up from her textbook at Serena, who stared intently at her.

The two found themselves on the roof once more, which was quickly becoming a hideout of sorts for the dynamic duo. They had been coming here quite a bit since joining together, and shared lunch, info, and moments of awkwardness during their break.

"Since when were you so interested in the recon side of this job?"

"It's the fate of the world we're dealing with, right? I figure that is something I should take initiative in."

Ami smiled.

"Very good. Maybe you're not a completely hopeless human defect."

"Thanks, I think."

Ami went back to reading her book in peace, and in the process not answering Serena's question at all. It was odd for the vocally more intelligent girl to not be tripping over herself to share some kind of horrible attack or ominous sign from the national news.

Things had been getting progressively worse for California in the past few weeks. Strange murders were popping up all over the map that left victims in a mummified state. Luna had told them it must be the Dark Kingdom's doing, though she wasn't exactly sure of their purpose. If that weren't enough, equally bizarre beheadings had started taking place recently. The police had no leads on either cases, and Luna was completely in the dark about all of the blood being spilled on the streets of the once peaceful west coast city by the cover of night.

But today there was no rumblings of bloodshed. There were no horrific pictures of death or insanity ridden articles about the end of the world. The two found themselves on the roof, high above the ignorant students that paced the hallways below, in complete silence.

Something was definitely wrong here.

"So…"

Ami looked up once more.

"So?"

The two gave each other an odd look.

"Where's the doom and gloom?"

Ami put her nose back in her book, although she seemed a bit flustered.

"No doom and gloom today."

That didn't seem right to Serena. Ami had specifically requested the two meet on the roof once again today. Why else would they be up there together if there was no reason for it? Ami didn't seem like the kind of girl that wasted time. Everything Serena knew about her suggested she was focused, assertive, and definitely not casual.

"Then why did you pull me up here?"

Ami slammed her book down on the ground and looked up at her cohort with a red face.

"Because I wanted to have lunch with you. Do you have to be so damn nosy?"

Serena gave her the biggest, most self gratifying smile she had ever produced.

"Cool."

Lita had bailed on school early today. Her encounter with the holier than thou Japanese girl had left her feeling miserable, and it's not like skipping was anything new for her. She felt guilty about not telling Serena, who seemed to be the only person who had supported her without interrogating her. She didn't feel like doing the 'friend' thing at the moment. Besides, friendship and hope were dead concepts where she was going.

After the bathroom incident she may have gone a bit overboard with her 'casual' addiction. She found herself in a most unfortunate position - she desperately needed to not feel anything, but she was almost completely out of 'stress reliever.'

So she found herself on washout lane once again. She had met Drew here not long after moving in to California, and the two struck up what could be described as a parasitic bond. He was leeching off of her desperation, and she was unable to stop him even though she realized the tragedy of her situation.

It would be easy to judge her if you hadn't walked in her shoes. But Drew didn't judge anyone. He just provided a service. And right now, his service was highly in demand.

The alley was relatively clean except for a few pieces of newspaper and a cup or two that laid about. It wasn't like in the movies where junkies laid all over the street in their own filth and death filled the air. Lita didn't consider herself high class despite her potential wealth, but she at least had the common sense to pick somewhere safe to collect her poison.

Well, as safe as a drug corner could be.

There she saw Drew, who sat on the ground near a dumpster by himself, smoking a cigarette. A smile graced his face as he saw Lita walk towards him with an aura of humiliation.

"Didn't think I'd be seeing you anymore." he said casually, with no belief in his own words.

Lita looked down at him through the long stringy hair that covered her pretty face. She was resentful but needy, and that was a dangerous situation to be in. She was a beautiful girl with a killer body, and she had always been wary about doing this. She was always afraid things would go too far and her desperation would cloud her judgment.

Today she would be right.

"Why?"

"I heard about your folks. For what its worth, I'm sorry."

Lita stared at her feet.

"Thanks."

"So what can I do for you? I doubt you came here to talk."

"I need some more."

"What's that?" he asked, pretending he couldn't understand. He always was kind of a dick.

"I need some more. I'm almost out and all of this shit going on is driving me crazy."

"Ever think that maybe it's the drugs making you go crazy? Maybe you should take it easy."

"I really don't need any more therapy today, and you're the last person I want advice from. So are you going to sell to me or not?"

The would be Scarface took a drag off his cancer stick and blew smoke slowly.

"You don't take criticism well."

Lita threw her hands down in frustration. She was starting to feel beyond jittery and really needed some kind of fix. This day was turning progressively worse.

"I don't have time for this, Drew. Please."

"Fine. Hard or soft?"

"Soft. I don't know if I could handle anything stronger today."

"You're getting weak on me, girl. But I'm here for your pleasure." he said as he pulled a good sized baggy of marijuana from his pants. "This enough?"

"For now. I might be back later." Lita said as she pulled money from her back pocket.

Drew took another hit from his cigarette and pulled his baggy away from the needy girl. She had an annoyed look on her young desperate face, which made her that much more desirable to him. He liked having power. Every aspect of his so called life was made to control others. He got off on it, and he was about to use that same power to get off with her.

"Not so fast. How long have you been coming here? How long have we been doing this dance?"

"Too long. What's the problem?"

He stood up, threw his cigarette on the ground and started to circle the tall girl, who kept her eyes pinned to the ground. Lita was never sheepish, but even she was humbled in his presence. It wasn't that he was exceptionally awe inspiring, it was just her own shame made her a rug for him to walk all over.

"You always come here and insult me, even though I hook you up with the best. That doesn't seem very friendly, does it?" 

"I'm sorry. I didn't think you were after conversation."

Drew stood in front of her and placed his hand on her left breast. 

"Oh, I'm not."

Lita pushed away slowly and knocked his hand away. Her chest was admittedly a big target, but they weren't meant for just anyone to do whatever they wish with. 

"What the hell are you doing?" she asked as she was frantically backed against the wall behind her.

"I'm just taking our relationship to the next level."

"We don't have a relationship, so get away from me!"

Drew forced himself against her, pinning her against cold hard brick. He put his hand on her stomach, slide under her shirt, and starting groping her breasts again.

"We don't? Well how bad do you need this fix? Because I don't have to sell you shit and you can go home crying to mom and dad."

Lita looked up into his eyes with hateful tears forming in her own.

"Oops." he said with a sick smile. "Look, bitch. It's a simple lesson all my little junkies learn eventually. You want more? You have to give me more. Understood?"

Lita felt his hand start to slip down her pants and she finally had the nerve to push him away.

"Don't touch me…"

"Then you don't get anything. So sorry. Although, I can think of other things you could do that will keep your clothes on, if that's a problem. You can do all the touching instead. What's it going to be?"

He dangled the bag in front of her, like a steak in front of someone dying of starvation. Every part of her wanted to run away and never look back, but there was a voice in the back of her head begging her to put up with this. She had to suffer just a little bit so she could make the pain go away, even if it was for just a few hours. That's what life was turning into for her now - suffering. It's not like she was a virgin anyway. She had made a mistake or two on her descent into hell already. But something seemed wrong about this. This was crossing a line she was terrified of seeing in her rear view.

What would her parents think of her now?

She looked away from him with shame written all over her face. She wiped a few tears from her eyes and looked back at him with the most indifferent look she could manage.

"Pull it out." she said softly, her voice quaking with fear.

"Good girl." he replied as he reached for his zipper.

Lita thought about her mom and dad. It was a strange moment for those kind of memories, but her broken heart was screaming for some kind of guidance. She needed someone to tell her this was wrong. She would give every cent her family left her for someone to stop her from going through with this.

It was at that moment, in between her own conflict and the sound of his zipper coming down, that she saw Serena and Ami. Serena was all smiles and gave her a sense of hope in overwhelmingly hopeless times. And Ami, well, her smug expression gave Lita all the rage she needed to finally do what was right.

Before Drew had a chance to pull anything from anywhere, Lita placed her knee squarely in his groin, putting him on his knees with a most painful expression.

"You rapist piece of shit!" she yelled at the top of her lungs before slugging him in his jaw with a powerful right hook.

He fell to the ground and smacked the back of his head on the concrete below. Before he had a chance to feel that pain, Lita was punching him over and over again right in the middle of his face.

"You fucking bastard I'll fucking kill you!"

Her knuckles were bloody and torn before she gave up her fist offensive. Unfortunately for Drew, that just meant she was moving on to her legs and feet. He coughed up blood as she kicked him repeatedly in his ribs while screaming more obscenities in his general direction.

When she finally regained control of herself, she saw the carnage she had caused. Her drug dealer laid broken and beaten in front of her in a pool of his own blood. Everyone knew she had a temper, but even she didn't know she was capable of something like this.

Thankfully he wasn't dead. He was pure excrement, but that didn't mean she had the right to kill him. But he would be pissed when he regained his composure, and she would be in definite trouble. She didn't imagine people of his ilk responded very well to violence. She decided to bolt, but before getting too far away she backtracked and snatched the bag of weed out of his pocket.

And she kicked him one more time in the crotch for good measure.

As she disappeared into the ever fading light of afternoon, Drew squirmed around in a vain attempt to get off his back. Every inch of him hurt in ways he never imagined possible, and the only thing that kept him going right now was the thought of how badly he was going to hurt that little bitch when he got up.

A deep voiced laugh echoed throughout the alley, mocking his pain. Drew looked around for the source and felt around for the pistol he always kept in the waist of his pants. Through the blood that covered his face he saw a tall long haired man in a strange military style uniform walk towards him from the shadows.

"If nothing else, your kind does give me a hearty laugh." said Nephrite, who had been watching the entire scene from the background.

"W..who are…you?" the fallen dealer asked in between hard breaths.

"But as funny as you little creatures are, I quickly grow tired of your antics. But I must thank you. Your human born greed and cowardice have helped that girl reach her full energy potential, and she will be a great feast for our…master." he said, not completely confident in his own words.

"I hope whatever you're on…I didn't sell it to you. Because…you're crazy."

"Charming. Truth be told though, regardless of that girl's fate, I can't stand those without any shred of honor. You poison your own people. You are less than human, and your life isn't good enough to be fed to a starving dog. Why don't you use that toy of yours to end your own life?"

"When I get up, I'm going to kick your ass, and kill her ass, and get so high I won't remember any of this." said Drew, who had dealt with his fair share of crazies and spaced out druggies in his time.

Unfortunately for him, this was not one of those times.

"That wasn't an option, boy."

Nephrite raised his hand, and Drew couldn't stop himself from pulling out his gun and placing it against his own temple. He figured it had to be the drugs. There was tripping, and then there was this madness, which if he could put in a baggie somehow he would be a rich man.

Still, for a high, this was pretty realistic, and not in the good 'I can see colors' way.

"What are you, a fucking Jedi?" he asked as he started to panic. He had no control over his own arm. The only thing he could feel was the cold barrel placed hard against his skull.

"No." Nephrite responded coldly. "I'm a God amongst insects."

Drew screamed out to no avail. He couldn't prevent his finger from pulling the trigger, and the last thing he heard was the hammer slamming down. Everything went black for him, while blood and pieces of brain and skull splattered around him. There would no vengeance for the drug lord in this life.

Nephrite smiled to himself and chuckled at the death of another worthless mortal, before slipping away into the shadows once more to begin the final act of Nolita Greenwood's life.

Serena and Ami walked together after school, which was a first. Usually the two met for lunch when things needed to be disclosed, or as of late had met with Luna to strategize. But today Serena had waited at school for an extra hour so she could spend more time with Ami, who had stayed behind to tutor. The two had talked more and more casually lately and if you didn't know any better, were starting to act like actual friends. The smarter of the two hadn't even called the dimmer a slut in what felt like hours.

It was good for Serena, who had been in a real friendless rut lately since begrudgingly accepting her fate as savior. Molly had turned her back on their bond, which completely sucked but was understandable. The Asian teen hadn't been a very good confidant lately. She decided to devote herself to fighting the good fight, and even though her heart wasn't completely in it she had managed to alienate those around her.

Even though she was actually having a good time with Ami today, she couldn't help but wonder where Molly was right now. She was probably with Melvin, either trying to keep his horny little virgin hands out of her pants or attempting to keep him away from the mystical world of Azeroth.

Serena missed those two so much. She told herself things would go back to normal once all of this was over, but she knew deep inside that couldn't possibly be true. How do you go back to classrooms and peer pressure when you've faced down monsters in a crazy attempt to save an entire world?

"Penny for your thoughts?" 

Serena snapped out of her little daydream and smiled at Ami.

"I doubt they're worth that much. You know, I wanted to thank you. You've been pretty cool lately and I don't feel like you want me to die anymore."

Ami straightened her glasses and smiled back.

"Well, Ms. Haruna was right. Your optimism is infectious. You're not as bad as I make you out to be, Tsukino. I just…"

"Have some kind of painful secret in your past that makes you anti-social and causes you to lash out at others?"

Ami stared at her in a semi-state of shock. That was a pretty good guess and far more intelligible than she had thought possible considering who it was coming from.

"Yes, actually. I'll tell you all about it someday, I'm just not ready yet."

"No pressure. Being a friend to Serena Tsukino means never having to explain yourself."

"Thanks. For everything. I don't have a lot friends. Or, you know, any at all. My friends have always been books, goals, and self loathing. It's been pretty nice having one made of independent thoughts and occasional witty remarks. I hope when this 'end of the world' thing is over you and I stay in contact."

Serena took Ami's hand and patted it with her own.

"Oh I think we could qualify as BFF's."

"BFF's? Maybe my English isn't very good, but that one is lost on me."

"BFF's - Best Friends Forever. A popular term used by young girls and the Paris Hilton generation." called out a familiar, though not entirely welcome voice.

The two girls looked ahead to spot Jade walking towards them decked out in a fashionable ensemble far different from his Dark Kingdom fatigues, and with a new slightly emo haircut that covered one side of his face.

"This internet of yours is remarkable for finding out everything I've ever wanted to know about your kind. What do you think, do I look like I belong in a Twilight movie? Fitting in is so liberating!"

Serena and Ami took a defensive position and prepared for battle. Their last encounter ended in a lucky shot and an accidental show of power, but Serena hadn't used her abilities since then. She wasn't even sure how she did it or if she could do it again. She felt Jade's power through the aura that surrounded him and was scared that she couldn't make another miracle happen.

This could get ugly.

"What do you want?" 

Jade frowned at the two.

"You don't seem happy to see me. I couldn't wait to see you two again, but we have to pick our times and places. There are agents of the darkness everywhere and I can't afford to get caught. Not now."

The girls gave each other a confused look. What was he babbling on about?

"Did you come to fight or ramble?" asked Ami.

"Well, which would you prefer?"

An awkward silence filled the halls as the two sides kept their distance from one another.

"Don't mistake me. I didn't come here for your blood. Not now anyway. I just came to give you a warning. Your friend, the one with the big chest and tiny brain, she's in trouble. Brother Nephrite has stuck two of his most obedient lap dogs on her and he plans on harvesting her energy tonight. In fact, he's on his way to gut her right now, so you should hurry if you're going to save her."

"It's a lie, isn't it? Why would you help us? Do you think we're stupid?" Serena questioned, rightfully cautious of the man she considered an enemy.

"I'm not quite sure what to think of you two yet. Saviors, failures, what path will you choose? There's a lot of things you don't realize about this situation, child. If I wanted to hurt you, I would kill you in your sleep. I would burn your home to the ground and slaughter everyone you love. But don't worry, it will all come to you in time. But that is something your little friend is running out of right now. You really have no choice but to trust me, because if you're wrong, and she dies, how would you live with yourself?"

Serena hated to admit it, but he was right. She felt like he was telling the truth, although she had no idea why he would do so. He had attacked them with what seemed like full intent to kill them. Why would he be divulging this kind of information now?

"Ah, a moment of trust amongst mortal enemies. The rage, confusion, and sense of hopelessness is intoxicating. You do gooders. How I envy you."

She didn't have time to think about it. Lita might be in danger, and she wasn't about to let her down so soon. Death was a huge strain on a new friendship.

"Forget him, Ami. We have to go."

Ami eyed her friend and fellow soldier and nodded slightly. She wasn't a big fan of either Jade or this crass girl Lita, but she couldn't stand by and let an innocent die. She had sworn to stop the forces of evil, so she couldn't really pick and choose which ones to save from them.

"How are we going to find her?"

"She had a bad day." Jade said calmly. "So she went home. To her real home. You'll find her among the ruins of a happy life, in the loving arms of ghostly memories. How amazing it must be to feel sorrow and pain, or, you know, anything other than nothing. A warning though - the lap dogs aren't to be taken lightly. Together, Castor and Pollux are near invincible. You'll have to separate them to win. And they won't be alone. This girl is marked for death by one of the four kings himself. Nephrite will be there as well, and he's not as kind as I am. He has no patience for mankind and will not hesitate to rip you apart. So if you choose to go, go prepared to die."

The two looked at each other, and for the first time since they had met Serena thought she saw fear in her cohorts eyes. She tried to keep a tough front, someone had to in all this mess, but this was different. This felt more like a death march than a fated confrontation.

"I've procured you two a vehicle to help you in your heroic journey. It's the black Porsche outside. Drive safely, buckle your seat belts, and bring it back to me in one piece."

They stared at the strange young man as he laughed to himself.

"No I'm kidding, blow the damn thing up if you want, I stole it." he said with a smile as he tossed Serena the keys. "Go save your friend. Survive. I'm not done with you guys yet."

The two cautiously walked away from Jade before making a mad dash outside of the dimly lit school building. This felt like it was a trap so much that, strangely enough, they figured it probably wasn't. Regardless, they did agree on one thing that didn't even need to be said - this guy was a loon.

"Don't disappoint me." he said under his breath as he watched them go.

Like a cat in the sun, Luna found herself sleeping soundly in the apartment building she was renting. It wasn't too bad, considering she had no job or disposable income and was basically planning on stiffing the owner on the bill when the time came.

She didn't have a hell of a lot to do in this time before the fight. She was still searching for the reincarnated soldiers of a thousand years ago, keeping tabs on the Dark Kingdom's progress, and keeping a low profile so she wouldn't attract the wrong kind of attention. The enemies of humanity were many and easily blended into the crowds.

But in between all of her crucial world saving activities she found herself with a lot of down time, and she hadn't yet discovered Netflix. Sleep was the next best option, and through her often surreal dreams she hoped to unlock more clues as to her past, her mission, and how to save the future.

Her dreams had been more pleasant since she had reunited with Serena. There were less terrible memories of genocide and more happy ones of seemingly insignificant moments. She often dreamed about Queen Serenity - a great friend who she missed dearly. She sometimes envisioned her last conversation with the beautiful queen, when the walls were crumbling around them and the twisted monsters of a once peaceful nation clawed their way inside.

She stood in the throne room with Queen Serenity, her terrified young daughter, and the alleged traitor prince of the Earth himself, Endymion. She recalled with the great sadness when a gravely wounded survivor of the battle told them that Mercury had been torn apart, and that her beloved Artemis had been killed by one of the high priests of the Earth.

Through tears that streamed down her reddened face she saw guard grab the princess and drag her away to a safer position per her mothers orders. The girl that would someday become Serena Tsukino kicked and fought to stay with what was left of her family as her mothered turned her back so she would not have to look at her child for the last time. Endymion drew his sword and followed behind them pledging to the queen to give his life to protect the girl that Luna knew he had fallen in love with.

There was another woman there, a beautiful maiden with long strawberry blonde hair, whose angelic golden armor shone brightly amongst the dying lights of the crumbling castle. She whispered something to Serenity, who closed her eyes and nodded in a seemingly forced agreement.

With that the golden warrior hugged Serenity one last time, drew the magnificent sword at her side, and headed towards the sound of battle.

She looked back at Luna, and the two locked eyes for a moment as the mysterious knights name echoed softly through her mind.

"_Galaxia_…."

A loud noise suddenly woke her from well deserved slumber. The cell phone she had _acquired _to keep in contact with the girls laid at her side, emitting the most annoying ring tone that Serena could possibly pick for her. She looked at the name on the digital display, hoping it was maybe Artemis calling in. She hadn't heard from him in quite a while and was starting to fear for his life.

Alas, it was actually Ami. Not as good as Artemis, but not as infuriatingly difficult as Serena. It was a decent middle ground.

"What's wrong?" she asked, knowing that any news was bad news these days. And besides, the emergency phone was for dire situations and communication about the enemy, not for girl talk. 

"What can you tell us about Nephrite?"

Luna thought back and remembered the strapping young man, well built, incredibly handsome, and unbelievably strong. He was the greatest warrior of the Earth Kingdom. He wasn't as fast as Zoisite, nor as precise as Kunzite, but his mix of brawn and speed made him the most formidable of the lot.

"From what I recall he was a very proud warrior and one of the most respected of Endymion's knights. Why do you ask?"

"He's going to 'harvest the life' of a girl tonight and we're on our way to stop him. We just wanted to know what we're up against."

"_Oh no_" Luna thought. She knew the two couldn't fight against someone as powerful as him. He would wipe the floor with them in seconds, even if they were at the height of their own powers.

"Do not, I repeat, do not go after him. He'll kill you!"

Serena grabbed the phone from Ami as the she made a quick left and nearly ran off the road.

"If we don't, he's going to kill someone!"

The call grew quiet for a moment before Luna responded in a soft hopeless voice.

"You knew there would be casualties…"

Serena hung the phone up quickly and handed it to Ami, who blankly looked ahead as the two sped down a thankfully deserted California street. The two shared an awkward silence that seemed to last a lifetime. Ami agreed with Luna and didn't really want to throw her life away here, but knew where Serena was coming from. She didn't want to just let someone die, especially one close to a kind soul she was beginning to feel an attachment to.

The phone rang, breaking the silence. It was Luna. Ami looked over at the driver of the stolen car, who stared forward with an angry look on her oft happy face. She slid the phone into her pocket, ignoring the repeated redials.

Serena looked over at her and gave an appreciative smile.

"Thank you."

"Keep your eyes on the road, Tsukino. Let's not get ourselves killed before we get murdered. Have you ever driven before? You're actually not doing too bad."

"Nope. Burnout Legends." she answered hastily, not exactly extinguishing the fires of doubt.

"Right…"

Ami slunk back into her seat and gave a loud sigh as she buckled her safety belt and braced both hands on the dashboard in front of her. This was going to be a long, scary, illegal drive into the unknown.

Lita sat on the all too familiar couch in what she laughably still called home. She found herself watching a television that wasn't on, and listening to the whispers of ghosts that surrounded her in this cold place.

The destruction she had caused in her last drug induced fit was still prominent on the floors and walls of what was once a beautiful building. No one had checked on it since her parents had died. Her relatives, more worried about the money they could get than the safety of the black sheep of the family, largely ignored her. They were supposed to be looking after her, but as far as they knew she was rotting away in this lonely box. They didn't really care enough to make sure she was there.

But, tonight at least, she was. She didn't really know why she came back to it. Every second in it felt like hell. Every object was cursed, every picture frame told a happy story that mocked the misery she was experiencing. But that was comforting in a way, as odd as it sounded. Here she could feel her parents. Their very souls were engraved on the wood, their memories were cemented into the floor. At least here she knew what to feel. Out there, in the cold world that didn't care whether she lived or died, she didn't know anything. She was a walking corpse, shuffling from one point to another with no rhyme or reason. All of the newfound friendships and old addictions couldn't change who she was and where she belonged.

And that was here, at home, alone as she had always truly felt.

But she wasn't alone. Not tonight.

She sulked on the couch, soaking in pain and ignoring the sounds she heard around her. The house was getting older and creaked from time to time. That was what she told herself, and she didn't even bother to check it out or even look behind her. If she had she might have seen him and had a chance to run. But he was too fast, too strong, and running would do nothing to save her life.

"For some, death isn't the end of existence."

Lita lifted her head slowly and turned around. After a day of preachy catholic girls and rapist drug dealers, not to mention the cruelty of her current situation, she was hard pressed to care about what was going on.

Nephrite stood behind her, his face half covered by the shadows of the dark house. She tried to look through the darkness to make out features, but only saw ghouls and goblins that she attributed to the drugs.

"And to look upon me is to look upon Death himself. I can sense them, you know. They're afraid for you, your parents. They want you to run."

Lita wasted no time in following the advice. Hallucination or not, she was most definitely wigging out. She was unsure of the situation, but with a tall strange man throwing out cryptic messages like Vincent Price she wasn't going to stick around to find out. She bolted for the closest door, but somehow he was already there, staring solemnly at her. She turned to go through the kitchen and out the back, but he was there too. Like something out of a damn horror movie this ghost seemed to be everywhere she wanted to go at once.

She was terrified now. Was it the drugs? Was it her own mind turning on her? This couldn't possibly be happening. This was the real world, and it may have been a piss poor existence but it certainly wasn't this crazy. She told herself it wasn't real in the hopes that he would disappear and she could escape this nightmare. She squeezed her eyes shut as hard as she could and kept repeating to herself that this was a dream. She almost believed it, too. For a second, it felt like she would open her eyes and the dark ruins of a happy home would be lit once more, and the loving banter between her parents would fill the air like it did before. She opened her eyes slowly and saw no strange man. He was gone, and so was the pitiful hope that it was all a dream.

She found herself alone with the ghosts once more.

But, just because you can't see something, doesn't mean it's not still there.

"Running will only make you tired." he whispered in her ear from behind.

Instinct began to kick in and push back fear. She spun around and swung at his face, but like a ghost he was gone again. He appeared behind her and kicked her precisely in the lower back, pushing her forward and face first into a nearby wall. She turned to face him, but before she could do anything she found herself bound at the wrists by two demonic looking women. Castor and Pollux, his favorite lackey's and hellish sisters of the Dark Kingdom, had a tight grip on each side of her and she wasn't going anywhere.

Not everyone kept their human form over the thousand years that they were imprisoned in that hell. Most of the people from Earth became twisted freaks, both mentally and physically. These two, still beautiful and sexy in that Tim Burton kind of ugly way, were broken souls. While they still retained pretty faces and shapely bodies, not to mention an odd new skin color to match, their minds were warped and beyond repair.

Nephrite was one of the 'lucky' ones.

"Tonight death will be all that you know." he said menacingly to her, his face just a few inches from hers.

"What are you!?" she asked desperately.

"You're the second person to ask me that today. I wish I knew the answer. But I gave up all of the answers when I sold my soul for a prize I can't remember anymore. I have no answers, no feelings, no desires or dreams. I am the walking dead. But come on girl, is the cold embrace of Death really so bad? Isn't this what you've been begging for since you lost your family?"

Lita stopped struggling for a moment. He was speaking the truth. Ever since her loss she had not so secretly wanted to be with her family once more. She just never though it would be like this - pinned down by monsters and slaughtered by some kind of phantom. She really never saw that one coming, although if it was happening to anyone but her she probably would think it was pretty cool.

"Harvest her. Rip every miserable emotion she has from her, just make it fast and painless."

"Painless? You want it to be quick? You think that makes up for murdering me, you sick fucking freak!?"

"I owe you nothing, human. Castor, Pollux… Eat the body if you wish. Enjoy your meal, ladies."

Her eyes grew large with fear as the monsters at her sides cackled with glee. Castor bit her arm and licked the crimson that trickled out as Pollux clawed at her stomach. She looked up and screamed in delight at the taste of human blood. The two were so entranced with their promised feast that they didn't see the headlights appear from the outside night.

Light suddenly filled the room as a black Porsche ripped through the grass lawn outside and sped towards the glass sliding door leading into the nightmare.

"What is that?" Castor asked, with a look as curious as a new born.

Inside of the car, Ami and Serena screamed at the top of their lungs in terror as they barreled towards the scene. This wasn't part of the original plan, because there wasn't a plan, but if there was this definitely wouldn't have been part of it. They were high school girls, not Super Dave Osborne.

"What are you doing! What are you doing!!" Ami yelled at the teenager behind the wheel. All sense of calm and logic had been replaced with pure one hundred percent 'freaking.'

"I have no idea!" Serena called back, desperately trying to hit the brakes but flooring the gas by mistake.

Castor and Pollux shielded themselves from the coming impact, giving Lita a chance to make a break for it. She ran for cover, but was knocked aside by Nephrite and landed hard on the floor, knocking her unconscious. That was probably the best thing she could have hoped for in this situation. He glared down at her and almost pitied her. Almost. Then he remembered the centuries he had spent in exile, and being around these disgusting new age Earth creatures filled him with so much rage he felt like he could level an entire city.

He calmly walked towards the direction of the headlights that grew closer and closer with every millisecond. In an a moment soaked in religious overtones, he stood against the light showing no fear. He raised his arms and used a great amount of his own energy to stop the car in its tracks, just second before it came crashing inside.

The vehicle jerked suddenly and smashed into what seemed like an invisible wall. The two girls lunged forward into life saving airbags, which didn't stop the impact from knocking them senseless and sending shattered glass and debris flying everywhere.

Ami unbuckled her seat belt and crawled out of the wreckage of twisted metal. She felt overjoyed to be alive, but that could also be some kind of side effect from the head injury she had just sustained. She would have to consult her text books after this was all over. She looked over at the drivers side as Serena kicked open her door and rolled out onto the ground and stared up at the cold starry night. Her face was bloody, but she didn't seem to be injured too horribly. She looked disoriented and confused, but she kind of always looked like that.

"Tsukino, are you OK?"

"Yeah, I'm…is my head broken?" she asked no one in particular as she fixed her hair and looked at the blood on her hand. "Whoah! Did you see that? My first wreck was awesome. We were all like --"

Serena stammered as Ami helped her to her feet. She cut herself off as the two spotted the ominous figure standing inside of the house staring back out at them.

"That's less awesome."

"I'm guessing that's Nephrite." Ami whispered to her. "If you were planning to use your ability and blast them into nothingness, it sure would be swell if you did it now."

Serena braced herself against her friend. She was still woozy and felt like she was going to topple over. Even if she did know how to use her power she certainly didn't have the concentration to do it right now.

"Its not a light switch! Why don't you…throw a glass of water at him or something?"

Nephrite hovered in the air and floated towards the two. He passed through the glass door like it wasn't even there. His awe inspiring presence was not lost on the girls that suddenly found themselves in very serious trouble.

"Oh, shit…" the two said in unison. 

"Little ants…" Nephrite said to himself as he appeared before the two wide eyed teens.

"We're drunk high school girls. Nothing more. I am so drunk right now." Ami said, trying to think of an excuse fast and failing miserably.

"Y-yeah!" Serena continued, just as poorly. "Please don't tell our dads?"

Nephrite reached out and grabbed the two by their throats and lifted them off the ground and above his head. They struggled to breathe as his grip tightened. They could feel the life being sucked right out of them in his cold dead hands.

"Worthless humanity." he said coldly as he intended to choke the two seemingly innocent girls to death.

They felt their numbers being called. Suddenly the whole 'save the world' crusade seemed pretty useless. Luna was right - they truly had no idea what they were up against. In their first face to face battle with the enemy they would be crushed as easily as insects beneath a shoe. 

In her final moments Serena Tsukino thought about her family. She had never gotten to tell them the truth, and now she would die with nothing to leave them but questions and a guaranteed destruction. She thought about her own life and everything she would miss out on, but she couldn't really feel sorry for herself. For once, in a great leap towards adulthood, she thought about everyone else and how she had failed to protect them. She was selfless at a time when most would forget there was even a world aside from their own out there.

She also thought about Molly. She really wanted to see her again and tell her everything. She was so sorry it had to end this way, with so many secrets and lies. If she had just one more chance she would tell her everything. She would fix their friendship and there would be no more hiding from the truth. If only…

Ami didn't think about her family. She barely knew her mother, who was always so busy at the hospital. Her father was dead to her. The only person she thought about was someone who was already gone. She thought about her sister Juni, the bond that could never be broken between them, and the day she found out what had happened. It was one of the last times she saw her mother and father together.

She wondered if a miracle would occur and the two would come together one last time to say goodbye to her? Did they even pay enough attention to her to notice she had died?

Before they could find out the answer to life's greatest question of what happens after you die, a miracle did indeed happen. With all allies present and accounted for it seemed like a new face was about to join the fray.

Two throwing knives, sharpened perfectly and hurled with superhuman accuracy, plunged deep into Nephrite's shoulders. He immediately dropped the two girls, who gasped for air as they held onto their necks. The warlord of the Dark Kingdom pulled the two blades from his body with a splatter of blood, but not a single grimace on his face. The blades were flawless, and on the handles were matching engravings of a beautiful single red rose.

He looked up at the direction they had come from and saw a lone figure standing against the moonlight. He was dressed in what looked like a black long coat with an intricate 17th century cut and design. His face was hidden by the black hood that was attached to the jacket, and a spectacular cape fluttered at his back in the rising winds.

"You have got to be kidding me." Ami said as she pointed out the strange sight to her companion.

Serena stared with her mouth wide open. She wasn't necessarily impressed, she just couldn't feel anything still and was kind of drooling on herself.

"Who are you?" the dark warrior called out into the night.

"Good question." the figure replied as he leaped high into the air and landed in front of the two girls and their attacker. His black hair hung over one eye, while the other stared intently at the man in front of him from deep within shadows.

"Been asking yourself that same question, old friend? Tell me where she is!" the tuxedo clad hero asked.

"Where who is?"

"I'm right here!" Serena replied, waving as she stumbled around, still woozy from the wreck. Ami held on to her so she wouldn't fall, although the thought of letting her may have been entertained in retaliation for the action movie style car rescue they had just attempted.

"Her?" Nephrite inquired as he pointed at the blonde Asian girl.

"No!" the mystery man exclaimed. "Where is Beryl? What have you done with her?"

Nephrite glared. How did he know about Beryl? And what did he mean by that? What had _they _done with her? Just who the hell was he? The great general was confused, weakened from his incredible trick earlier, and for some odd reason felt his hand shaking around this stranger. His aura was fearsome, and there was a great power in his mysterious eyes. This added all kinds of complications to what should have been an easy assignment.

"This isn't over." Nephrite said before disappearing into the shadows so he could find some answers, leaving his minions to finish their work.

"Coward…"

Serena hobbled over to her odd new would-be ally with a face full of amazement.

"That was….COOL! Are you Spider-Man?" Serena said excitedly and very loudly.

"Ignore her, she's simple. Who are you? Why did you help us?" Ami asked, as she had a much more reserved persona than her easily enthused friend, who was still very groggy from the wreck.

The cloaked man smiled at the two and offered them a red rose.

"I didn't."

He calmly bowed to the two like a true gentleman, then disappeared into the black night. Just as quickly and mysteriously as he appeared, he was gone from their lives. In his wake he left two very confused women, one of which was just more than little bit smitten by the whole thing and smelled the sweet rose he had given her.

"What do you think he meant by that?" Serena asked Ami, who shook her head.

They didn't have long to think it over. Before they could form a thought process they were pounced on by Pollux, who pinned Ami to the ground. She licked the brilliant girls soft face and gave her a blood crazed smile.

"Pesky little humans. So annoying, but so delicious."

"Get off of her!" Serena yelled as she reached out for the demon.

Pollux was no push over. She and her sister had a reputation in the hell hole they were from as a pair of the toughest creatures in a realm of truly wicked beings. She swung her tail, knocking Serena backwards with enough force to send her flying a few feet away and putting her back in a daze.

"Scream if you want, human. I beg of you. Make this as magical as you can for me." she said with a sadistic grin. Her grin slowly dissipated though as she smelled the air. She stared intently at Serena, who was half heartedly attempting to stand back up to fight. "You smell like her… The ill fated princess! Your blood is mine!"

Pollux leapt at Serena, who was powerless to fight back, and could do nothing more than prepare for the fatal blow.

Inside, Castor lifted Lita up by her ponytail and slammed her back against the wall repeatedly, waking her from her forced slumber. She immediately began to kick and fight against the monsters power, but it was too much for her. She was doing nothing but tiring herself. With tears in her big beautiful eyes she struggled to keep Castor's hands from slipping around her neck to no avail. She felt the cold dead fingers of her attacker push down slowly on her throat and start to crush her windpipe.

She kept trying to fight back at first, that was just her nature. She couldn't handle emotions very well but she sure as hell knew violence. And the only way to solve violence was with violence. Actually, the way she solved most problems was with violence. That's why she was in trouble so damn much. That's why she had been kicked out of so many schools before this one. She must have been such a burden on her family. They tried so hard to shed the darkness from her heart. She didn't care. She embraced misery. She wanted to live fast and die young like all of her heroes. She never really took the time out to consider what a strain that must have been on the only two people she had ever cared about. She was so selfish and petty and it made her sick to her stomach. In a way, she kind of felt like she deserved this.

That was when the desire for the end came back to her and she just let go. She didn't care how it ended, she just wanted it to be over. She dropped her hands as her sight went blurry, and she felt the grip on her very life squeeze tighter. Her head started to hurt, like someone was crushing her brain. With no desire to save her own life she closed her eyes, and she could feel the sweet embrace of Death stroking her face.

"_I'm so sorry_…" she thought to herself as she started to black out. "_Goodnight mom. Goodnight dad._"

Castor slammed Lita around with glee, like a disturbed child with a new doll. She was draining the life right out of the defenseless girl and enjoying every second of it. She was having so much fun with her new toy that she didn't even notice what she was knocking her into. Lita's foot kicked the answering machine that she had never erased. It still had one message on it, a message from her mother that she couldn't bring herself to get rid of. It was the only way she could hear that reassuring voice ever again.

The machine fell to the floor, where the 'play' button was pushed and that same message cut through the dying night air. The tragic message, one where her mother told her how much she missed her troubled daughter, played in its entirety. It ended with the words that would ignite the dying girl's soul.

"We love you, Lita."

The brunette's eyes opened suddenly, burning with rage. With a new power she never knew she possessed, Lita grabbed her attackers arms, pulled her hands from around her neck, and snapped her wrist bones in half. Castor howled out in pain and stumbled back, but this was far from over. Lita grabbed the demon by her throat instead and pushed her against a nearby wall. She was blinded by vengeance, inspired by all of the shit she had endured for an entire lifetime, and sparked by the loss of the only people that could have contained the fire.

As she mercilessly choked the life from the creature that was trying to devour her very essence, something strange happened. Not that being attacked by phantoms and monsters wasn't strange enough. Lita felt a spark in hands - a literal spark. Electricity began to flow through her body, to her arms, and from her hands to the neck of Castor, who screamed out in agony as it sent painful shockwaves through her curvy body. She could feel her blood boiling inside of her own body and her eyes felt like they were literally melting inside of their sockets.

Lita didn't care. She had no pity for this loathsome creature. The worst pain imaginable wouldn't satisfy her blood thirst right now.

Outside, Pollux was just about to finish off Serena with one slash to the stomach. She wanted to spill her guts and feast on her intestines. She turned her attention away from her victim though, as she heard the desperate cries of her sister from inside the house, which was turning increasingly brighter somehow.

"Castor!? Castor!" she yelled back as she climbed off of Serena and made a dash for the house.

Before she could make it inside a brilliant flash of light lit up the darkened scene, and on a cloudless night a huge bolt of lightning struck the home, exploding the once beautiful building and leaving Castor a smoking corpse inside.

Pollux was sent flying backwards, but recovered and landed on her feet in an amazing show of agility.

"Castor!" she screamed frantically.

"Lita!!" yelled Serena.

"Serena! Finish her off while she's distracted!" called Ami, drawing the unwanted attention of a very pissed off Pollux, who leapt back on her and started to swipe at her face with razor sharp claws. It took all of Ami's power to keep the mad woman from shredding her to pieces. "Help me!"

Serena stood up and grabbed the silver crystal from her neck. She waited for that shining light to appear and send their enemy into oblivion, but nothing happened. She clutched it tightly and begged for it to 'turn on,' but there was no luck on this day. She could do nothing as Ami was seconds away from being torn apart.

In desperation she grabbed a nearby wooden board that had broken off from the house and raced towards the two. Pollux turned around to face her with bloody tears streaming down her face for her now dead sister, but Serena panicked and gave her no time for explanations or mourning. She lost control of herself as she slammed the board in Pollux's face, unknowingly shoving a long rusty nail that had been sticking out of it through her skull and into her warped brain.

Pollux fell over on her side and started convulsing on the ground, but in a panic Serena kept on the attack, slamming the board over and over again into her head until the terrified teenager was covered in blood and the enemy had stopped moving completely.

She kept swinging the heavy board against the bloody corpse until Ami finally took it from her and threw it to the side. Serena looked down at what she had done, noticed all of the blood she was covered in, and lost it. She fell to the ground in tears, and laid there screaming and crying hysterically as Ami knelt down to console her. This wasn't a time for speeches about war or how things were only going to get worse before they got better. Ami felt no desire to scold Serena for showing weakness or weeping over what had to be done. She merely put her arm around the broken soul and pressed her head against her friends. She held her tight as Serena openly wept over what she had done.

Lita stumbled out of the broken down ruins of a once beautiful home she had shared with her loving parents. It was a home that she had torn apart herself, both with her bare hands and some kind of horrific power that had saved her life while brutally taking another's.

Ami looked back at her with tears of her own. The two shared silent glances at each other, but these felt considerably different from before. There was no hatred in their eyes anymore. An experience like this changed people, and in a way the trio had now become forever linked through fate and tragedy. Lita was one of them now. She felt odd, both peaceful and sorrowful. Her emotions were as loud as the questions that raced through her mind about what the hell had just happened. But those kind of things could wait. Right now she just didn't want to be alone.

She walked over to the other two and sat down with them on the cold hard ground. She laid her head against Serena's as well, and the three sat together in silence until the sun rose in the distance on a brand new day.


	12. Chapter 12

Somewhere in the hellish deep of the Dark Kingdom, the great warrior Nephrite sat in complete silence. His mind swirled with questions after his encounter with the strangely dressed human who dared to question him.

How did he know about Queen Beryl?

Why did his aura feel so familiar?

Just who was he?

The questions tormented him. He felt lost and confused, two emotions he hadn't experienced since that fateful day on the Moon. He helped lead the revolt against that wretched kingdom and their Godless ways. At that time he didn't quite understand the true reason behind their holy war, and now he was beginning to wonder why he was still following the orders of that woman. He had been focused on their mission, but was it his own hand guiding his fate? Or was someone else pulling the strings?

He drank wine from his chalice, which to him was an old love from a more sophisticated time, poured from a once golden cup that had been tarnished and grown dull over the years. It was his reminder of what it was like to be human, to sit and drink without worries or care. It was a luxury not often found in the place he laughably called home. But what else was there for him? He didn't even know what he was anymore. But until now, he didn't even care to ask.

What was that planet doing to him?

As he sat in his broken throne, he closed his eyes and truly savored the taste that came from the bottle beside him. His mind raced with questions that would find no answers, but for the moment he would try to forget them. He would try to forget everything.

Some things could never be forgotten.

"Still looking for peace? Any luck with that?"

Nephrite feigned an interested smile.

"Not in a very long time. Still driven by your fool hearted desires?"

Jade bowed slightly before his senior from his veil of darkness.

"Desire is irrelevant, is it not? Was it our desire that created this prison of darkness for us? Was it greed? Or did we honestly believe we were doing the right thing?"

"The humans have a saying for that. 'Hell is paved with good intentions,' I believe. They say a lot of nonsense nowadays. The world is very different from when you and I were alive. Honor and the struggle for freedom have been replaced with a mind numbing culture of self indulgence and arrogance. If you came to bother me with your idealistic nonsense about saving them again, I suggest you leave now. I'm not in the mood."

"But lord Nephrite, you are the most honorable and free thinking of all the creatures in this kingdom of abominations. If you won't listen to reason, who will?"

Nephrite scoffed.

"Reason? You look for reason in this existence? Why do you carry such sympathy for those people? Even now they're gathering their saviors to destroy us all, yet you're tearing yourself up on the inside about them. Never mind. Do what you wish. I've not yet told Beryl of your deceit, and I won't waste my time searching for your reasons behind it.."

"And is such a revelation in the cards?"

The solemn lord took a drink from his glass. Every sip made him feel like he could grasp humanity once more, but that quickly eroded into the nothingness he had long embraced.

"No. I have no interest in being a pawn. But I also know better than to become a part of your crusade. I have my own agenda. I will warn you though, you're not as sneaky as you think you are. There are whispers on the lips of the creatures here. Well, those that still have lips. Beryl is no fool. You might well be walking right into her plan. Is this all you came to bother me with?"

"Of course not. I've brought something back for you. I thought you would want to see this." he said as he stepped out of the shadows and threw the lifeless corpse of Pollux at Nephrite's feet.

The long haired warrior looked down at his fallen comrade and kicked her cold dead hand off away from his boot. Her face was covered in blood and the horrified expression on her face told him that she had died a brutal death. For a warrior, was there any other way? He could respect this loss. However, that didn't satisfy his ego over defeat.

"Where is Castor?"

Jade smirked, but kept it hidden enough to not be noticed.

"Just as dead, but I couldn't find enough of her to bring back. If you really miss her, the ashes are still in the burning remains of the place where I found this one."

Nephrite took another drink and stared intently at the body that lay before him.

"So the Gemini twins have been vanquished. Who did this?"

"Who do you think? We were curious about if those people had awakened yet. Well, here is your proof. Those girls are out for blood this time."

Nephrite swished the contents of his cup around as he smiled at his younger ally. Today brought him some excitement after all.

"So be it. Blood will be repaid with blood." he said as he took another drink, sat his cup down, and laid his head back to rest.

He was calm, but Jade knew not to mistake that with cowardice. Nephrite was a master tactician and a wicked warrior. Any response he had planned would be calculated, brutal, and quick. He had lost his interest in making Beryl's grand scheme a reality centuries ago. This wasn't about revenge. For the first time since the great war, Nephrite felt the rush of battle. He could taste the bloodshed and savored the imagery that danced through his mind. He presented himself as a true warrior, who lived for violence and honored all that came with it. His fury would destroy many if left unchecked.

Jade needed to find those girls as quickly as he could.

Serena Tsukino opened her eyes slowly and found herself staring at the ceiling in her room. Her eyes burned thanks to a combination of having such little sleep and crying so much. She didn't remember how she got in her room. The last thing she could recall was a big battle, the first true test she had encountered in this unbelievable situation she found herself in. She remembered driving a car and nearly killing herself in the process. She remembered the fear of death as she was choked by a creature more powerful than anything she had ever seen in her short life. In her mind, through the fogginess of the accident and the insanity of the night, she saw a man come to her rescue and offer her a beautiful red rose.

And then, with no way to stop the memories from flooding back to her, she saw the terrified face of Pollux as she crushed her skull over and over again. The bloody screams from that creature cut through her like the sharpest of blades and Serena felt herself tearing up again already. She had taken a life. Monster of no, she had ended its existence. What was she becoming?

"Hey sleepy head."

Serena turned her head and saw Lita at the edge of the bed staring back at her. She was smiling, not because she was happy, but because she was trying to comfort. Ami had told her what happened, and she knew that this would not be a pleasant morning. She was highly confused, a little scared, but mostly worried. It was a terrible night, and nothing would ever be the same between any of them.

"Hey…"

Lita reached out and brushed the hair out of her recently appointed roommates eyes.

"How are you holding up?"

Serena shook her head.

"It doesn't feel real. Was it real?"

Lita nodded.

"Yeah, it was real. I'm still having trouble believing it myself, but it most definitely happened. Our hands are bloody now."

"Our hands? What happened? What did you do?"

Lita looked uncomfortable as she turned her head away from her newfound friend. She had always kept a strong aura in public, but the events of the past few weeks was beginning to take its toll.

"I gave up on life. I just wanted to die so badly. I was so tired of existing. I feel like I've lost everything, literally. When those things were killing me, I wanted to let them. I didn't care what they were. It was a way out, you know? But, something inside of me felt like it suddenly woke up, and I wanted to fight. I wanted to survive, and I did what I had to. I killed that thing. I broke its bones, I crushed its neck, and I felt this surge go through my entire body. It felt so good. All of the anger, the loss, and the misery helped me focus. And then I literally shot lightning from my fingers and I fried that evil bitch. In the process I burned my family's home to the ground. So before I was just lost, now I'm actually homeless."

Serena mustered up whatever spirit she had left and smiled back at Lita, who was starting so shed a few drops from her eyes as well.

"You have a home here. This doesn't change my offer of friendship to you. Although, I'm glad we don't have to keep secrets anymore."

Lita nodded, and did an admirable job of hiding her guilt behind the reassured expression she was wearing. She hadn't told anyone about her addiction. After all, it was her poison and hers alone. She was pretty sure how they would react to the news and she was terrified to let go of her peace. Some things would just have to remain private, at least for now.

"How did I get back here? What time is it?"

"A little past noon. It's the weekend so I convinced your father to let you sleep in today. I told him you had a rough night, you know, boyfriend stuff. Fathers never want to ask questions about the kind of stuff, so we're good. Ami and I carried you back here after you passed out a few hours ago. All of the excitement must have gotten to you."

Serena had forgotten about Ami. She was almost mauled to death by Pollux when Serena stepped over that line she could never go back across. In her mind it was worth it. She felt horrific, but she would have felt even worse had her friend been the casualty instead.

She did make the right decision.

Didn't she?

"Ami! Where is she? Is she OK?"

"Oh yeah. She's fine. Just a little worn out." Lita said as she pointed at the floor beside her, where Ami was stretched out and sound asleep still. "She's so much more pleasant when she's not conscious."

Serena smiled. It was a genuine one this time. When all was said and done she was happy to be alive, and she was relieved the people she cared about was still safe. She rose up in bed a little to stretch her arms out when she realized that she had nothing covering her breasts. In fact, she had nothing on, period. She immediately hid back under the covers and pulled them tightly up to her neck as her face turned bright red.

"Uh…is there a reason why I'm completely naked?"

"Your clothes were covered in blood. I had to get them off of you and get rid of them."

It almost sounded like this wasn't the first time Lita had done something like this. As close as they had all become in the short time they had known each other, it was moments like this that made Serena realize how little she really knew about her new comrades.

"You took my clothes off!?!?"

"Uh, yeah, so? You have girl parts. Big deal, so do I. Although, might I say, yours are fantastic." Lita said with a flirty wink.

"I'm going to go get a shower." Serena said, horribly embarrassed by this all.

"Have at it." Lita replied, looking straight at her with no concept of privacy.

Serena stood in silence for a moment before wrapping herself in her blanket and slowly making her way to the bathroom. She kept one eye locked on Lita, who stared back at her with a slightly dejected expression. Meanwhile, Ami started to snore as she twisted herself into various awkward positions on the floor.

The hot water raced over every soft curve on Serena's body and cascaded down into the tub like little water falls. Her cuts were still relatively fresh, and dry blood mixed with the soothing aqua and turned red as it fell. The traumatized high school girl pressed her head against the wall behind the nozzle. She was more awake now, and that meant she was more akin to think about what had happened the night before. She felt like she had gone out and got knocked up at some party. Every part of her screamed obscenities at her for being stupid and getting in over her head.

What had she gotten herself into? Lying to her dearest friends? Stealing cars? Fighting monsters from another dimension? Defending the fate of the world?

It was all a nice sounding dream at first. When Luna came to her with this madness she thought the woman was a true loon. But after discovering for herself that the insanity was truth, for a while she almost felt like a princess out of a fairy tale. She would save the world and more than likely make lifelong friends, become a hero, and find her true love.

But this was no fairy tale.

This was brutal, bloody, miserable, and terrifying. Someone she cared about almost died. She almost died. Her own great power had failed her and the only reason she survived was because in her moment of weakness she did what she had to do to survive. Just like Lita said.

But the creature was evil, wasn't it? It had no mercy or restraint. It was a bloodthirsty demon who was seconds away from killing them all. This was her destiny, wasn't it? To be a hero?

Was she a hero? Or was she a killer?

It was too much for her to think about at once. Serena sunk down into the tub and curled up into a ball. She cried loudly to herself as the sound of her shower cut her off from the outside world, and the once comforting water washed her tears away into the drain below.

Later that day, Luna waited patiently at the local arcade for her newest initiate to arrive with Ami and Serena. The former had called her earlier and told her what had happened that night. She was less than pleased that Serena had completely disobeyed her, but was relieved to know that they had saved the victim. Who, as chance would have it, turned out to be another reincarnated soldier from a time long ago.

Serena and Ami met because of careful planning by herself and Patricia Haruna. This, however, seemed more like fate. Maybe there was a higher power behind all of this after all.

She spotted Ami and Lita walk into the noisy building and waved them over. A majority of the guys kept their eyes glued to the latter, who had worn a midriff baring tank top and low rise jeans today just to make herself feel better. It was one of the few things she could salvage from the ruins of her former home. She had no interest in the game junkies in this establishment, but always enjoyed the attention they gave her.

"Where is Serena?"

"She's taking this about as well as you could imagine. She said she wanted some time alone." Ami replied, visibly bothered by the loudness of the arcade machines.

"How are you handling it?"

Ami stared blankly at her and shrugged, giving no hint of weakness or doubt.

"I'm here."

Luna nodded at her. She knew this couldn't be easy, despite Ami's apparent strength. She wasn't the kind of girl who vocalized her pain. Somewhere deep inside the girl was just as damaged as Serena, she just didn't let it show. That was a bad way to deal with such dangerous emotions.

"And you must be Lita. I'm sure you have a million questions about all of this."

Lita looked around the room as she spoke, distracted and seemingly unaffected by the situation.

"Not really. Ami told me the basics. They're evil, we're good. They tried to kill me, I killed them instead. Do you guys have change for a soda?"

Luna gave her an uneasy look as she shifted her eyes back to Ami - the only one who seemed to have any resemblance to sane. She rolled her eyes at the former royal advisor. She wasn't a big fan of their new teammate, but realized they needed her after the display of power the bull headed girl had shown when she and Serena were lucky enough to not get gutted.

"Here," she said as she pulled a couple of dollars out of her pocket. "You know soda is terrible for you, right?"

Lita smirked as she snatched the money out of the girls small hands.

"What can I say, I'm feeling invincible today."

She ran off towards the counter and the cute blonde guy standing behind it. The two struck up a conversation while her two comrades across the room watched in amazement. Ami shook her head in disbelief at that girls attitude.

"She lost the only family that ever cared about her, was nearly killed by monsters, and burned down her house after she slaughtered one of them in a most savage way. So what does she do? Carry on like it's a normal day. That one kind of scares me."

Luna gave a quick nod.

"She's definitely unstable. But we're going to need her if we're to win this. We're going to need all of you. Even Serena."

Ami looked at her shoes. She did that when she was awkward. She struggled to find the right words to tell Luna what had happened last night. No one had yet told her of what Serena had done. She had conveniently left that out of the phone conversation they had earlier.

"Serena saved my life last night. That thing was going to eviscerate me and she killed it. Not with her powers, and not by utilizing the crystal you gave her. She hit that thing in the head with a board until its skull was shattered."

Luna's eyes shot up towards Ami and horrified look formed as she continued.

"I was wrong about her. She's not weak. She's just kind. But last night, she was something else. She betrayed her own good nature to save me. I've decided to put my faith in her. She's a lot stronger than we give her credit for."

The girl's watcher smiled slightly. She was happy to know that they were starting to show the courage to do what needed to be done to save the world. Her heart was broken apart on the inside, however. She knew that Queen Serenity had sent them away to live a happy normal life, but it seems like their fate would never let them go. She felt like she was betraying her queen's last wish, but what she was supposed to do? Let them die a simple death along with the world? She couldn't let so many suffer just to satisfy her honor.

Still, it was a crummy job to send teenagers off to fight and die like soldiers. She couldn't imagine what kind of misery Serena was wallowing in right now.

"Hey!"

The two left their heart to heart at that as Lita stepped back into the conversation, drink in hand.

"Andrew says that there's a meeting room here we can use if we want to discuss things in private. You know, end of the world stuff."

"Andrew?"

She pointed at the guy behind the counter that she had been talking to. He hadn't taken his eyes off of her yet and smiled politely at the group as they watched him. They all waved back in unison at the handsome young man.

"Good choice." Luna said as she nudged Lita.

"I've seen him around. His sister goes to my school. She seems nice enough." Ami added.

"Yeah and Andy says that he won't even charge us to use the room, as long as its not already booked."

"Andy?"

Lita pointed at the strikingly handsome young man, as he nodded at them with that same beautiful smile. The three waved again.

"How did you manage that?"

"You know how it is. Flash a pretty smile, stick your chest out a little, and a guy trips over himself to get you whatever you want. Men are suckers for big boobs, you know?" Lita said arrogantly as she looked down at Ami's remotely flat chest. "Well, maybe you don't. But I promise, its easy."

Before Ami could respond with a surely venomous tirade, Luna put her hand over her mouth and held her at bay.

"So, where is this room you were talking about? We do have things to discuss, after all."

Lita signaled for the two to follow her. As she walked she did a little dance to the music blaring over the building speakers. She was feeling better today than she had in a long time. Violence and boys always seemed to spark her flame.

Luna let go of the brilliant girl's mouth and patted her on the head.

"When this is all over, I might kill her myself." Ami said as she straightened her collared shirt and followed behind, mumbling to herself the whole time.

Inside that same arcade was none other than Molly, who had been pulled there by her semi-official boyfriend Melvin. He was currently putting the hurt on some other geeks in a super intense game of Street Fighter IV while she played the role of good girlfriend and reluctantly cheered her man on. She wasn't into this kind of stuff but it was nice to be invited out for a change. Since her best friend had stopped hanging out with her she found herself sitting in her room sulking. Maybe that was why she, the popular high school goddess, found herself dating a guy who can calculate his rogues DPS and trigonometry in his sleep.

She felt the Droid phone in her pocket vibrate as it was way too loud to hear her Lady Gaga ring tone. It felt like it had been ringing off the hook today. She dug it out again and looked at who the call was from. It was the same person again for what felt like the millionth time today. She wanted to answer it, but she was beyond hurt and ignored it once more. As she stuffed it back into her jean shorts she felt a quick kiss on the side of her head and smiled.

"Did you win?"

"Don't I always?" Melvin said with confidence.

"My big strong fighter." she replied as she hugged him and held on tight.

"Are you OK? This seems like it would qualify as a public display off affection, and I remember you had me sign some kind of legal documents saying I wouldn't expect or ask for this."

"Oh shut up," she said as she leaned in and gave him a long sweet kiss in front of everyone. It was the first real kiss the two had shared aside from a few pecks here and there. She had no idea why she made the plunge into a real relationship, but it felt really nice. And that's when she felt her cell phone ring again and hoped Melvin would be distracted enough to not hear it.

"I think your phone is ringing." he said as he begrudgingly broke away from their kiss.

"I know," Molly replied as she laid her head on his chest. "Can't we just pretend it didn't?"

"Someone you don't want to talk to?"

"Not exactly."

In a café not so far away from where her friends were having their get together, Serena Tsukino sat alone in front of a milk shake that she couldn't even bring herself to take a drink from.

She closed her cell phone again and threw it back on to the table. She must have called Molly a dozen times in the last hour and no one picked up. The sullen girl knew she had been a terrible friend lately, but it wasn't her fault. She didn't seem to have a voice in this great conflict that she found herself in. She wanted to spill everything to her best friend, but she had read enough comics to know that would only endanger her somehow down the line.

But today was different. She was on the edge of giving up. She felt a lot like Lita right now. She had been robbed of her best friend, her life, her innocence, and the happy simple future filled with parties, weddings, and shopping trips she had been planning since she was a lost little girl.

What did she have now? Blood on her hands? A death on her conscience? Monster or not, it was still a living being, and she had brutally killed it. What if it could have been saved? What if it was just lost and confused, like she was when she came to America. What if it had just needed a guiding light to show her how different life can be?

That was what Molly had done for her. She felt like crying whenever she pictured Molly's smiling face. She would give anything to see that right now, but that seemed impossible now. She had made it very clear that she no desire to see Serena ever again. Even with the bonding in blood that she had done last night with Ami and Lita, Serena once again felt like she didn't have a friend in the world.

"Mind if I take a seat?"

She looked up at Jade and felt no desire to fight or even argue with him. She was already defeated.

"Do whatever you want."

The wide eyed youth sat across from the downtrodden Asian girl and the two sat in complete silence for a couple of the most uncomfortable minutes ever.

"So. You killed Pollux, eh? I saw the body. Her head was like jello. There was skull fragments and brain everywhere. Wow that milk shake looks tasty. Can I have a sip?"

Serena stared at the strange young man and shrugged.

"Whatever."

Jade grabbed the tall glass of cold goodness and sucked most of it down in one long gulp. People stared at the two as he so quickly consumed the nearly frozen treat. He slammed the glass on the table and sat back in the booth with a refreshed look on his face.

"The advancement in technology on this planet is amazing. You know, when you and I were first alive, we didn't have stuff like this. What an age to be alive in, am I right?"

She stared at him with a disgusted look on her tired face.

"What do you want?" she said with a sharp tone.

"I came here to congratulate you. Castor and Pollux were a great pair of weapons forged deep in Hell's armory. You guys really took me by surprise when you defeated them. I mean, I knew you could do it. I knew I was backing the right side! I'm just so freaking happy!" he yelled out enthusiastically as he finished off her drink.

Serena stood up, reached across the table, and punched Jade as hard as she could. The people in the usually quiet café all took notice of the confrontation between what most assumed were two young lovers in the midst of a spat. A really awkward public spat.

The suddenly inspired girl sat back down, and with tears in her eyes she shook her hand to ease the sting. She wasn't used to throwing punches and it hurt like hell.

"You're happy? You're HAPPY? What kind of a sick fucking asshole are you? Do you get off on watching my life fall apart? Do you see me celebrating this? I'm a fucking wreck! So fuck you, you don't get to be happy. You're supposed to want me dead, and I'm starting to wish you did, so I could kill you next. You're just another of those creatures, so stop acting like you're something else. We're enemies, got it? If you all want me to be this slayer of evil, fine, but don't forget which side you're on."

Jade wiped a little of bit of blood from his lip and stared at Serena with a genuinely hurt look on his face. He glanced over at the people staring at the duo and gave them a menacing glare as he tried to figure out how to control the situation. He was used to fighting for his life, but dealing with teenaged girls was a whole new battle.

He tried to find the right words, but he couldn't find them. Instead he relied on his gut instincts, as he had always done before, and spoke the truth.

"Did you think it would be clean? Did you think you would wave some kind of magical wand and make the bad people go away? This is the fate of the world you're dealing with. You either toughen up and accept what you have to do or you won't last long enough to watch the rest of the world die. You're going to suffer, you're going to feel pains you didn't even know existed, and at the end of this will you be covered in blood and you will never be able to look at yourself in the mirror again. You'll hate yourself for what you've done, but the millions upon millions of people you save will continue their happy little life because of your sacrifice. Your future for theirs. It's a fair trade. This was just the beginning, and you better get over it real fast."

Serena turned her head and watched the happy people walking up and down the sidewalk next to the café. She envied them more so than wanting to save them. All of the inspirational speeches in the world couldn't change her dying heart right now. That feeling of rage had subsided and the realization of her situation washed over her once more.

"Just leave me alone."

Jade stood up and started to walk away, but stopped in his tracks before he could get away from the weakened girl. He glared down at her with contempt, but she looked back up at him with the most broken expression he had ever seen. There was no fight in her now that she had blown up on him. He shook his head in disappointment and turned away from her. He didn't feel like he could even lay eyes on her right now.

"Are you really that weak? You think you're the only one in this fight? I'm risking non existence just talking to you. Do you know what Beryl does to those who betray her? A fate worse than death. You may lose your precious little future, you may not. At least you have a chance. All I have is a very short time limit. After that, all I can look forward to is nothingness. So I'm sorry I'm ruining your life. Better yours than the entire world."

Jade walked away in disgust, leaving Serena to stare blankly out of the window as normal life passed her by. She would sit there for the rest of the day, watching people continue on with their daily lives. There were errands to run, hands to hold, and trivial matters to discuss as they crossed her sight. She wanted to know what every single one of them were doing at that moment, and she would revel in their simplicity and glow green with envy.

But she didn't have the courage or will to do so. She just stared outside as the sun hid away and the darkness blanketed the city once more. It was becoming a dangerous time to go out at night. On top of the criminals were the terrifying tales of creatures that walked the shadows and devoured a person whole.

But on this night, the most dangerous thing stalking the twilight was no monster.

What resembled a man ran through the back alleys of California as desperate screams pierced the dead calm of this particular evening. He was running for his life, but he wasn't sure what he was running from. He couldn't see it, he couldn't hear it, but the bloody slash down his chest was enough for him to panic.

He had no idea where he was going, but the fear bleeding through his skin caused him to keep going as long as his legs could carry him. He would find no friendly faces in this city of thousands, though. The streets were empty and there was no one to help him. He just kept running, hoping foolishly that whatever was chasing him would give up and find new prey.

As he ran into a desolate alley he found a high wall that he couldn't climb over. He pounded on the concrete barrier in frustration as his own terror captured his mind and erased all rationality.

And that's when he saw it. A street light behind him cast the shadow of a figure across the wall and he knew he had been caught. There was nothing left to do but turn around and face his fate. He doubled over and breathed heavily and frantically as blood poured from his chest, mouth, and nose.

"Leave me alone, please!" he yelled out desperately at his tormentor.

"So. You can feel fear. That's good to know." said a female voice with a subtle British accent.

The man laid back against the wall and tried to catch his breath. He looked around for possible escape routes but found none. He was trapped like a rat.

"All of the other ones I've found didn't last long enough to really teach me anything. But you've got some legs on you. Any normal person wouldn't have been able to keep up." she said calmly as the man watched the silhouette become visible.

Mina stepped forward into the light, her super model beautiful face tarnished with dirt and her long blonde hair soaked with sweat. She was still in her favorite England hoodie and tight jeans, and in her hands was a Japanese sword, sharp as a razor blade, and covered in the man's own blood. It was light, easy to use, and easy to get a hold of. It may not have been her weapon of choice, but so far it hadn't let her down. And this was definitely not her first hunt.

"Unfortunately for you, I played volleyball. Keeping up with you was as easy as serving."

"I have no idea what you are talking about! I just want to go home!" he yelled in a most convincing manner.

Mina smiled brightly as she made a slow walk towards the man. She kept her sword down, purposely carelessly, as if she were daring him to make a move.

"Pretending to be human. You're not the first you know. There was one in England that did the same thing. I fell for it, too. That's how I got this." she said as she lifted her hoodie and showed the man the large scar that went down from just under her ample breasts down to her picture perfect abs. "She got a lucky shot in before I dismembered her. I guess I was a little pissed."

"You're insane. You're fucked in the goddamn head! SOMEONE HELP ME!" he called out one last time. It was an act of futility.

"Persistent to the end, aren't you? Come on. Show me that pretty face. You're going to die here regardless."

The man started to cry as he hung his head. Mina remained still and showed no emotion to the stranger, who sounded as if he was beginning to laugh. Sure enough the man looked up at the beautiful girl in front of him and his eyes completely turned a blood red. His teeth elongated into a mouth full of flesh ripping tools and his fingernails turned into long blades capable of slicing someone in half. His face changed shape before her eyes. It became twisted and demonic, like something out of the worst of nightmares. His body grew in size, and made sickening sounds as flesh and muscle tore apart as it grew. The process made him at least three feet taller and wider to match.

The horrific looking creature's tongue, which had become as long as his arm, licked the blood up from in and around the gaping wound in his chest.

"And what now?" it asked in a deep hellish voice as it grinned sadistically.

"You know. The usual." Mina replied as she gripped her sword with both hands and rushed at the creature.

The two exchanged swings, with the demon using his impressive strength to break concrete with every punch he missed. Mina was much more precise, and with every strike she planted a new bloody slash on the monsters body. She was graceful and strong, traits earned from years of dance and sports. She looked like a natural with the blade, thanks to her past life coming back to her in the most dire of situations.

Not every fight was clean, though. The creature did manage to get in a powerful blow to her back after she missed with a forward stab. It was strong enough to knock her off balance, and she landed face first on the street. The impact opened a cut on her forehead that started to trickle blood. Before she could assess the damage and go into a rage, she felt the beasts movement through the ground and knew she had to move.

Mina kipped up as the demon slammed his claws into the ground where she just was and took a huge chunk out of the concrete. She ran forward as the lumbering Hell spawn followed suit. She was heading straight for the wall that she had backed it into and the monster gave a freakish tongue baring smile as it smelled victory.

But this girl was intelligent and agile. She put one foot on the wall and kicked off with the other, completely back flipping over her attacker. She landed perfectly flat footed as the creature slammed head first into the wall, hitting with enough impact to put a permanent dent into it. It was stunned for a brief moment, and that was all it took for the killing blows. Mina pushed the blade deeply into the things back and it's bloody pained howls tore through the still night air. She twisted the blade before she pulled it out slowly.

The beast turned around to look upon his killer. He had a look of confusion on his disfigured face. How could he have been defeated by such a fragile looking thing?

"What…are you?" it asked through labored breaths.

Mina stared into its dying eyes as she readied her sword once more.

"Complicated." she replied as she made a quick precise swing, lopping the monsters head clean off of its bulky neck. The hideous thing rolled around on the floor for a few seconds as it's hulking body slid down the wall lifelessly.

The battle hardened girl wiped its blood off of her blade with what remained of the thing's tattered shirt.

"You looked good in there, kid."

Mina looked up at Artemis, who was perched on the wall over her. He jumped down to join her with a bottle of liquid in one hand and a lighter in the other.

"One demon in a city of untold numbers. We're not making much of a difference. You know what we have to do. Why are we wasting our time with this?" she asked, not expecting much of an answer.

It wasn't the first time she had asked the question and he hadn't really given her one yet. Her patience was growing thin. They had been in California for weeks now and instead of seeing her true mission through she found herself hunting these things nightly, like she was some kind of superhero. She wasn't. She was going to betray all that was righteous to save the world. She knew she was a villain, and she was okay with that. She believed in the old saying 'by any means necessary.'

"One less demon means one less innocent person died tonight. Are you saying that it isn't worth it?"

Mina glared at him. Once upon a time, in a life that only comes to her as odd feelings and hazy dreams at night, she loved him deeply and trusted him with her life. She wasn't that person anymore. All she knew of him now was that he took her away from her home, her family, and her normal life and tasked her with saving the world. He was the biggest bastard she had ever known.

"Just finish it." she said as she walked off into the night without glancing back once.

Artemis watched her walk away and fought back the urge to call out to her. He wanted to apologize. He wanted to tell her to go back to her life and he would take care of everything, but he couldn't. He wasn't blessed with the same gifts she was and there was no way he could do this alone. Unlike Mina he was unfortunate enough to keep most of his memories from the Silver Millennium. He remembered exactly how much he cared for that girl and every reason why. She was loving, strong, and loyal, even if she didn't know it yet. He kept hoping time would turn her back into what she was, but the person she had become didn't seem to be going anywhere.

Still, he would hold onto that hope and those memories. When she turned her back on him like this, they were all he had. That, and a job to finish.

He turned back to the monsters corpse and doused it in the liquid from the bottle he had been carrying. It was gasoline. He struck a match and tossed it onto the body, setting it a blaze in a dance of flames. This was how they covered up their nightly missions. If the police found anything it would be burned beyond recognition, and the world could go on in ignorance for one more day.

He knew he couldn't keep Mina in check forever though. If he didn't take her to the princess, she would find her own way eventually. And he was scared of what she would do once that happened.

As he walked away from the blaze and smell of burning flesh he remembered what she had told him not long ago.

"_I will do what I must for the sake of this planet. If the princess won't give up her royal heirloom willingly I will pry it from her cold dead hands."_


	13. Chapter 13

"What is this?"

…

"Where am I?"

….

"Is anyone here?"

….

Rei Hino, a teenage girl who could never be accused of being "average," surveyed the damage to the chaotic remains of California that surrounded her.

It was the end of the world. Literally. Cars were turned over on their tops, like something out of a zombie apocalypse flick. Office buildings were smashed and burning in a Godzilla style reign of carnage. Worst of all, the ground was littered with the bodies of men, women, and children that had met a most gruesome end. The air was thick and the stench of decaying flesh choked her. The sky was dark, but it wasn't night. There was something else blocking it, some kind of living entity. She squinted her eyes and tried to make out the epoch sized creature that hovered above her head.

That's when she heard the voice that would set her on a new path in life.

"I couldn't save them."

Rei turned to the left to see a person that hadn't been there before. It was a girl, roughly around her age. Her face was Asian, but her hair was blonde and there were definite Caucasian features to her pretty young face. Her clothes were hanging by threads and scars littered her thin body. There was a nasty gash above her left eye that poured blood, which Rei got a good look at when the ghastly girl turned to face her.

"I couldn't save any of them."

Rei looked past the girl and saw the freshly killed bodies of two other teenaged girls amongst the other rotting bodies. One of the girls, distinctively Asian, laid still in a mangled pile of other corpses. Her throat was torn out and her limbs were barely attached to her body. Whatever had gotten to her couldn't have been human.

Rei looked at the other girl and her eyes grew wide with shock. The body was torn to shreds, like it had been ravaged by a pack of starving animals. She looked white with hints of Hispanic, and her eyes were wide open and staring a hole right into Rei's soul.

She knew this girl. It was Lita, the high school student that had lost her family recently. At least, Rei thought it was recently. She didn't know where she was or even when.

She was terrified beyond words. Her dreams were usually vivid, almost prophetic, but never this clear. There were usually images that popped up every once in a while that freaked her out, but this was a whole new monster. She could taste the ashes in the air. She could smell the bloody destruction. She was there, like actually there, and she had no idea how she had gotten there or how to get out.

"Why did God choose me?" the mysterious woman asked herself softly.

The words chilled her to the bone. Rei was a Catholic and a devout one. She was very spiritual and put her faith and trust in the Lord. What did this girl mean? What had God chosen her for, and why her?

"What's going on?" Rei asked back. "What happened here?"

The woman shook her head.

"Nobody can stop the end of days. If not now, someday it will come to pass. We will always be the ones to cause Judgment. If Chaos is stopped now it will just return in a new form. It always will." she said as she pointed over the horizon.

Rei turned her head, and past the mangled wreckage and bodies, she observed a young girl with short black hair floating over the ruins of the city. She looked as if she had the wings of an angel, which spread out in a magnificent display as she hovered. But the wings were black, and she was definitely not a herald of God. In her hands was an ominous weapon - a silver glaive covered in the blood of the innocent. Was she the bringer of this destruction?

"We will repeat this fate forever."

"I don't understand. How can I help you?" Rei said as she turned back to the girl and noticed a dark figure standing behind her.

"No one can help us now. Fate has chosen," the dark shadow said in a low female voice.

The wounded girl Rei had been talking suddenly screamed out in pain as a shining blade exited through her chest with a spurt of red. Even amongst the ash and dirtiness of the city the blade was perfect and untarnished. It was almost ethereal in appearance.

The girl gripped the blade in her hands and looked up at Rei with dying eyes.

"Why did it have to be us?" she whispered through tears and blood.

The figure behind her pushed the blade the rest of the way through her broken body and the girl's final scream was so loud and painful that it shattered the entire world. Like shards of glass, pieces of reality fell to the ground, leaving a black void in its place as the universe came crashing down around them.

It was then that Rei was finally granted release from the nightmare. She woke up in her bed, struggling to breathe as she could still taste the ash and destruction from the dream world. Her shirt was soaked with sweat. She looked around the room in confusion and started grabbing and pinching various parts of her body in an attempt to make sure she was still alive. Her heart felt like it was going to explode.

What the hell had just happened? This wasn't the first time she experienced something so vivid. She had always felt like she was different, and even at a young age she could remember having strange dreams where she could see the future. But they had always been fragmented pieces before. This was different. It was so real and explicit, like she had actually been there and seen the horrifying sights and smelled the foul stench of rotting bodies and a burning city. Was it just a terrible dream or her own dark future? Did she really just have a vision of the end of the world?

She was shaking with fear and couldn't just write it off as some kind of nightmare. She needed to find answers and she had a good idea of where to start. Amidst the chaos was a familiar face, as cold and dead as it may have been.

"Lita…"

Nolita Greenwood sat alone outside of her substitute school. It was starting to look like the rebuilding of her old high school wouldn't be done before the school year was over, and this would be her home for quite some time. It was fine by her. She was never a fan of the public education system anyway. She wasn't one of those girls you see on the Saturday morning specials. She wasn't a super student that gave up on life after some tragedy took her away her will. She had always hated this place and every place like it.

Thanks to a strange turn of fate she felt like she didn't have to worry about it anymore. Her inclusion into the super secret 'Save the World' club more or less gave her permission to not give a shit about homework and tests. Why did she need to learn about complicated math or American history when the world probably wasn't going to exist long enough to punish her for it?

Knowing that evil truly existed and was going to destroy all life as they knew it was almost liberating for often misunderstood girl. She had always been looking for the final nail in her coffin. It started with her own personality. She was a complete bitch to most everyone and she knew it. The death of her beloved parents set her up for the end, and the fall of existence had finally sealed the deal for her. She was free now to really be the person she feared she was and no longer concern herself with expectations or consequences.

She thought about her new found freedom as she rolled a joint. She was far away from the school building, hidden under the shade of the gently swaying trees, and was at relative peace. Her family was locked in a huge battle over who was going to have to watch over her while she passed the time staying with her best friend Serena Tsukino.

Serena won that role by default, as no one else actually seem to care about her. Ami Mizuno, the other one-third of this new age apocalyptic Charlie's Angels, didn't seem to like her very much. Lita didn't blame her for that. In fact, she kind of agreed with the resentment. Then there was Luna, who seemed to tolerate her well enough. It wasn't out of genuine concern or anything, though. She just needed more warm bodies to fight the war. Lita thought that was fair enough. At least she belonged to something now. 

They hadn't seen any action since that life changing encounter a few days ago with Castor and Pollux. Luna and Ami were spending every free moment strategizing their next move while Serena was off somewhere sulking still.

Truth be told the bond between the girls had already been falling apart. Ami, devoted and brilliant, was balancing her perfect GPA and the fate of the world heroically. That didn't leave much time for anything else, though. Lita had no idea how that girl could stay so focused. She would lose her mind. And Serena, who once had a smile so bright it could light up the night sky by itself, hadn't smiled since she had taken that creature's life. Lita had barely seen her since then. Usually it was a quiet "Good night" before she locked her bedroom door and Lita crashed on the couch.

They had won that small victory, but it sure as hell felt like they had lost. Still, she felt good about smoking one to small victories. Sometimes they were all you could really ask for. Unfortunately, she wasn't far enough away to enjoy the fruits of her labor.

"Lita!" Ami called out as she made her way towards the shady hideout.

Having naturally adapted to almost being caught red handed Lita quickly hid her minor narcotics and put on a guilt free face.

"Yo. What can I do you for?"

Ami pointed at the watch on her slim wrist and tapped her foot in a most annoyed matter.

"You do know that school is in session, right? I mean, it's kind of a well known thing, this school place. All the kids are doing it. Literally. Because they have to."

Lita leaned back against her tree and stretched out her toned shapely legs.

"Never was a fan. You have fun with it, though. Come get me when it's done.'

"You really don't care about your future, do you?" Ami said in a genuinely concerned tone as she took a seat beside her.

"What future? You really think any of this is going to matter once the world dies out? The hour glass is glued to the table, you know."

Ami knew this fate they had been stuck with was hard on them all. It was an unfair destiny, and carried with it an unlikely chance of success. Even so, it royally pissed her off to feel like she was the only one even making an effort.

"Luna and I are trying very hard to stop that scenario. You'd know that if you ever contributed. I don't know who is worse. Serena spends her time wallowing in self pity and you act so nonchalantly about the end of the world. Is this some kind of joke to you?"

Lita looked up at the crystal clear blue sky that slipped through the leaves. Giving up was something she excelled at.

"Yeah. It is a joke. A handful of teenage girls are going to stop an army of monsters. Why am I the only one laughing? Look, I'm just enjoying the ride until the bitter end. You should try living a little before you don't have the chance to do it anymore. Take your glasses off, get wasted, get laid, and do something other than stress yourself over the what ifs and how to's. When the smoke clears all of your good grades and extra credit won't mean a damn thing. Nothing will. I guess I'm the only one that accepts reality."

Ami shook her head. She had never let herself 'accept' the way things turned out. The memory of her sister and the destruction that resulted from that loss had turned her into a stubborn young woman. She never forgave herself, never forgot her mistakes, and swore to never accept anything less than absolute victory from that moment on. If only the other two girls had that same kind of miserable fortitude.

"I've been creating a life for myself for as long as I can remember. I didn't work this hard and get this far to let anyone, human or otherwise, stop me from succeeding. Once this is over and we've won, and we will win, I've got a real life to get back to. What do you have waiting for you?"

The dark haired girl from one of the toughest neighborhoods in New York felt weak suddenly, like she took a hard shot to the gut. Ami had struck a nerve with that comment. What did she have to look forward to, if by some insane miracle they did stop the end of the world and had to continue their normal lives? More drug abuse? There would be no friends to support her. She was a hopeless burden to what she laughingly called a family. This war was all she had and in a sad way she hoped she wouldn't survive. She would rather die a hero than continue living a shell of a life.

"Why don't you go back to that real life, right now, and leave me alone."

Ami stood up, glared silently at Lita, and felt that strange sensation of remorse she had developed since meeting these people. Sometimes she forgot how socially awkward she really was, and while her bluntness and honesty were valiant traits, they often proved to be unpopular. Serena put up with her personality and she was grateful for that. Lita was just as brutally honest as she was though, and didn't seem to be willing to budge. Ami walked away from a possible friend, unable to find the words that would never come easy to her. She left her alone to stare out at the empty schoolyard, to be surrounded by the gentle winds and awful silence.

This kind of loneliness had been the trend recently. Everyone dealt with the fallout from their first real test in their own way. Lita had chosen to let it all go and see what happens, while Ami had dedicated herself to saving everyone to try and make up for the one she couldn't.

And Serena? At the moment she found herself wandering the halls of school aimlessly. The starry eyed girl that had been so full of life had been in an unending trance since the realization of what she had done. She had never been the greatest student in the world, but now at least she paid attention and made an effort. Now she just sat there like some kind of zombie until the bell rang and it was time to move on and repeat the process. Her grades, which were already worrisome to her very patient parents, became a real problem as of late. She had failed test after test and her homework, when she turned it in, was incoherent and embarrassing.

Her family had earlier asked the school to help her with the problem, and she found herself in the capable hands of Ami Mizuno. But that was before she became covered in the blood of some kind of otherworldly enemy.

Taking a life, monster or not, had shattered her perception on life.

The only people she could turn to for help were strangers who she was pretty sure didn't much care for her. Ami, while slowly warming to her, still thought she was an idiot, and her history with Lita was spotty at best. She couldn't tell her parents. Not only would she be putting their lives in danger by confessing to be the savior of the world, they would think she was a psychopath and have her locked away. Even worse, her best friend Molly, who she lived for and would die to protect, had completely cut ties with her.

Serena would pass her in the hallway sometimes and fight back the urge to pour her heart out, knowing that it would be pointless to do so, as Molly wouldn't even look her in the eyes anymore. Her old friend, and Molly's worst kept secret, Melvin had taken his girlfriends side and now openly avoided contact too. He had finally found a good thing and was desperately holding on to it with paranoid hands.

What did that leave for the girl everyone had turned on?

She could talk to Jade, but she felt guilty even thinking about him. After all, he was the enemy, and their semi-friendly chit chats were probably a set up anyway. More than likely he was gaining her trust to backstab her when the time was right. Still, she found a glimmer of comfort in talking to him. If he was being honest, and that was a big if considering the company he kept, he was just as lost and lonely as she was.

The problem with the situation was that not everything was black and white. There were too many shades of gray, and too many unknown parties with a hand in it.

Unbeknownst to Serena at the time, there was another who shared their war. She had to remain silent about her connections, but they were most definitely there. She had known about their destines for a long while now, and she had been keeping a watchful eye on the trio of Serena, Ami, and Lita since she became involved.

Even now Patricia Haruna was watching Serena from the secrecy of the shadows. Like Luna, she felt an indescribable amount of guilt about putting children on the front lines of a war that they had inherited and not volunteered for. But she understood that it had to happen, and those girls would die regardless of their willingness to fight. That was a hell of a burden to put on anyone, much less a teenage girl with her whole life ahead of her.

Serena used to be so full of life. She had known the ditzy teen for years and, despite their disagreements over the importance of school, had a great fondness for her. Her personality may have been more alike to Ami's, but Serena's cheery attitude and penchant for life always brightened her day. She felt a connection to the girl, who like her was of mixed heritage.

It hurt her to watch the girl in so much pain now. Like Serena she had secrets she couldn't tell anyone else, and it made her feel alienated and isolated. She couldn't resist reaching out to someone in need. But she had to be careful. If the other side found out about her affiliation to these girls it could put all of the kids in danger. What happened with her old school was more than enough proof of that.

"Serena. How are you?" she asked as she casually walked beside the exhausted looking youth.

Serena looked up at her teacher with bloodshot tired eyes.

"I think I've seen better days."

"Look, I know things are rough right now. You have to hang in there, understand? Don't give up. You're stronger than you give yourself credit for."

Serena eyed her senior strangely. What was up with the sudden strange pep talk? Did she know something? Sure, the young girl knew she must look terrible with all of the self inflicted stress she's enjoyed lately, not to mention all of the sleep she hadn't been. Haruna had always been kind but firm with her, so it wasn't entirely out of character to speak to her in such a way. It just seemed like odd timing. Was this just a friendly outreach or something more?

"What are you talking about?"

Haruna knew she had overstepped her boundaries. She was in risk of blowing her cover and putting more people in danger if she did.

"This whole situation. The terrible thing that happened at the old high school, what happened to your friend Lita, this apparent rift between you and Molly, just…everything. I can't imagine what you're going through right now."

Serena chuckled to herself and looked away.

"You can say that again."

Patricia grabbed the girl's hand and patted the top of it. Serena was unsure how to react but enjoyed the comfort of a friendly touch. She had been sorely missing that lately.

"You're not alone. Don't forget that."

The words sent chills down Serena's spine. She felt like the last person in the world. How could she not? Her best friends had given up on her and the only connections she knew now were with monsters and sociopaths that seemed like they couldn't care less about her.

Her words angered Serena. What did this woman know about being alone? She was still young and beautiful, not to mention intelligent and popular with the students and faculty alike. What did she know about real pain? Did she know what it felt like to suffer? To watch friends die? To take a life?

Her words were as hollow as Serena's spirit. The down trodden girl pushed her teachers hand away and glared up at her.

"Always trying to brighten up your lost cause, aren't you?"

"Lost cause? Serena is that what you think you are?"

"Why not? Bad grades, no friends, no hope. Why bother when none of this matters?"

Haruna made an attempt at a reassuring smile that achieved nothing.

"You act like you've given up on the future."

Serena smirked.

"Haven't you heard? I am the future."

She looked up at a woman she had never really seen eye to eye with before and smiled brightly at her.

"The future is fucked," she said cheerfully as she walked away from the awkward conversation.

Patricia Haruna stood dumbfounded. She couldn't play her cards yet, though she desperately wanted to. The question nagged at her indefinitely – were they doing the right thing? Were these girls really the only hope of a dying world? Or were they just spinning their wheels while ruining an innocence that would be robbed by life someday anyway.

They could really use a glimmer of hope right now.

"Excuse me, are you Ms. Haruna?"

Patricia turned to her side to see a lovely young lady in a Catholic school uniform smiling politely at her.

"I am. What can I do for you?"

"My name is Rei, and I'm from the Notre Dame High School in Sherman Oakes. I've been helping out this school with the ongoing counseling for students who have come here because of the terrorist attack."

"Oh yes, you guys are doing wonderful. The students really appreciate the kind words and mentoring."

'Yes, it's been a pleasure," Rei said as she nervously swept her long raven hair behind one ear. "Anyway, I was looking for a certain student that I've been working with. Her name is Nolita Greenwood, do you know her?"

"Lita? Yes, she's a student of mine. Sort of. She's a troubled girl but she has a good heart. Serena is a friend of hers actually, she might know where Lita is."

"Serena!" Patricia called out to the sullen youth who was walking slowly away towards nothing in particular.

The young Tsukino turned around and locked eyes with Rei, who felt her heart skip a beat. Flashes of what she had hoped were a bad dream attacked her mind, and took her back to that battleground of death and hopelessness. This girl, Serena, was the one she had spoken to in that bizarre vision. She was the one who spoke of the end of days and warned Rei that this was a fate that could never be avoided.

How could a girl she had never seen before appear before her so clearly?

"Yes?" Serena asked with a hint of frustration.

"Ms. Hino is looking for Lita. Have you seen her lately?"

"At school? Has anyone, like, ever?" Serena quipped as she turned her back and continued with her dramatic walk off.

"I'm worried about her. She never used to be like this. I wish I could help her," the distraught teacher said quietly. Her words were truer than anyone would ever know.

"Maybe I can."

"You?"

"He works through me, after all" replied Rei, who never took her eyes off the mysterious girl."Tell me everything you know about her."

In the midnight hour, somewhere in this city of coming death, there was a scene playing out that had almost become nightly in schedule. The star of the show, a common high school girl from a foreign place named Mina, found her hands full with two creatures of the darkness during this performance.

The two beasts, as hideously disfigured as they were strong, took turns swinging their massive clawed hands at the nimble British warrior. She ducked under one swipe and did a backwards hand spring over another that swung low. With her light blade she made a quick swipe, cutting one of the beasts across his chest. He was wounded, but just barely. The fight was far from over.

Mina lunged at one with a forward kick, knocking it back a few inches, and used it's massive body to spring off and deliver a powerful roundhouse to the others gruesome face.

She landed on her feet and rolled away from the monsters to catch her breath.

"You guys really don't slow down, do you? It's hard to find a man with enough stamina to keep up with me," she said mockingly as her eyes moved back and forth between the hard breathing demons. "A shame the ones I meet always turn out to be otherworldly monsters. How about we take a breather?"

The beasts howled into the night and charged at her again.

"Of course not."

Mina stuck her blade into the ground and vaulted into the air, kicking both of her adversaries in the face and landing behind them in a graceful display of acrobatics.

"Years of volleyball! Great for the muscles!"

One of the creatures swung blindly behind him, nailing Mina in her chest and sending her flying towarfds and through a chain link fence and into the abandoned streets.

She knew she had to get back up. Fighting these bastards for so long had taught her that they knew no sympathy and gave no respite. She tried to move her arms, but all she could feel was pain. She assessed her own damage as she lay helpless on the ground, waiting for the next assault. The sharp pain in her side meant a few broken ribs and also made it harder to breathe. She landed on her left arm and was fairly certain her wrist was broken. Blood was coming out of her nose and her sight was blurred. The force of the blow had ripped open her shirt, exposing skin and old scars that attested to her sacrifice.

It was a harsh reminded that all it took for these things to get the better of you was one slip up. Her confidence, which was bordering on arrogance, had almost cost Mina her life.

She could feel their breath on her now. They were standing over her, though she couldn't see them with her face laying flat against the ground. She could feel the warm saliva from their hungering mouths as it fell to her pale skin.

They were playing with her.

She couldn't figure out if it was revenge for the ones she had taken down since her arrival in sunny California, or if they were intelligent enough to be as arrogant as she was. She didn't know much about the monsters she hunted other than they were evil, she was just, and they had to die by her blade.

The only problem was her blade lay a few feet away from the helpless girl. Summoning whatever strength she could, Mina pushed her arms out and tried to crawl toward it.

One of the monsters stepped on her back, nearly crushing her spine and keeping her pinned right where she was.

Mina let out a terrible cry of pain as she felt Death hovering around her. She had no team mates, no friends, no savior. She would die alone here, as she felt fate had always planned for her. With no hope or will to live, she slowly closed her eyes and accepted her end.

Thankfully, her lack of faith in those around her was unfounded.

Artemis tore through the night air like a bolt of lightning and stabbed one of the monsters in its massively muscled back. The creature screamed out and desperately tried to grab the handle of the dagger while the white haired hero stabbed the other one in its stomach with another small blade.

"Mina! Get up!"

Her eyes snapped open and the blonde bombshell rolled forward and grabbed her sword. She ran through the creature with the dagger already stuck in its back and pulled the sword up, splitting the beast in half and spraying blood all over herself.

The other denizen of Hell, already mortally wounded by Artemis, ran away into the darkness of the night.

"Artemis. Destroy this one," Mina said through labor breaths as she struggled to her feet. Her heroic rebound had taken most of her strength and she felt like she was on the verge of passing out.

"What are you going to do?"

"Finish it. We can't let it get away."

"No way, you can't fight that thing alone. You're going to get yourself killed!"

Mina started to limp away towards the one that got away.

"Better me than someone else."

"I won't let you kill yourself! I am your protector and-"

"You want to protect me? Next time don't wait so goddamn long to help!" she yelled angrily as her slow limp turned to as fast of a trot as she could manage.

Artemis could only watch as she disappeared into the night. He wanted to call out to her, but what good would it do? She was stubborn and self reliant, exactly as she had been when he had known her a lifetime ago. The only difference was that back then she felt more than just disgust and disdain for Serenity's appointed guardian.

He grabbed the blade from the back of Beryl's dying creation and slit it's throat, letting it die in silence as he readied the gasoline to finish the job.

Meanwhile, Mina searched desperately in the dark for the whereabouts of the monster that had escaped her. She knew what kind of chaos the thing would be responsible for if she let it get away. So far she had remained under the radar to the public. Her existence was becoming a legend in the city, with wild stories going around about the burnt corpses and wars fought by twilight. Still, no one knew the truth, and that was the important thing. The world needed to be spared this truth so she could bury it forever.

For such a behemoth, the thing sure was hard to find. It could be hidden in any one of the buildings that lined the deserted streets. Her mind tormented her with the horrifying thoughts of what it was doing or who it was doing it to while she bled out looking for it.

She drifted in and out of reality thanks to the damage that had been done to her. It was almost like she was heavily drugged. She slipped and stumbled as she stalked the night, and grew frustrated at her lack of progress.

Just when she was ready to give in to her injuries she heard the monster cry out in pain. Had it succumbed before she could?

She raced as best she could to the sounds of the scream to find it impaled to a wall by a thin sword, which was wielded by a new player in her game.

The figure, clad in an old fashioned tuxedo style long coat, black cloak, and a face hidden by a white mask, pulled the blade from its victim slowly. Before the thing could react the man took a lightning fast slash, beheading it and putting an end to this madness.

Mina readied her blade for the inevitable confrontation.

"I didn't come to fight you," the figure said in a calm tone.

"And yet, here we are."

He turned to her, and though she couldn't make out a face, his blue eyes shone through the night and peered right into her very soul.

"I know who you are. I know about your mission, your curse, and your loneliness. I am not your enemy."

Mina shrugged him off.

"All that means to me is you're another loose end to tie up, so the world doesn't repeat our past mistakes."

"You would be so quick to take my life? Without knowing who you're even killing?"

"If I asked who you were, would you tell me?"

The man smiled to himself.

"No."

Mina smiled back.

"Good. Less talk. More fighting!" she yelled as she lunged forward, swinging wildly at the mysterious man. She had the will to fight, but unfortunately lacked the conditioning and awareness to do it very well. She was slow and groggy, and would have been thankful this wasn't a serious fight if she was coherent enough to understand.

He side stepped with ease, avoiding the blow and letting Mina nearly crash face first into the wall behind him.

Mina turned around slowly and collapsed back against the cold stone.

"You're not.. making this easy..." she said as she felt herself losing consciousness.

"You're in no condition for a fight."

Mina slid down the wall as she lost the grip on her sword. She couldn't find the blackness anymore.

"I want a rematch."

"We didn't have a match to begin with, and I won't fight you like this."

She was sitting on the ground now, braced against the wall and slowly falling to her side.

"Then... I win... by forfeit." she said softly as she finally passed out from the pain.

The dark stranger put his fingers to her neck and felt a pulse, weak though it was.

"She's going to be fine."

Behind him, Artermis had his dagger at the ready for another battle.

"Stay the hell away from her!"

"You have nothing to fear from me," he said as he turned around and removed his mask. "She needs a hospital."

Artemis looked over the suddenly less-than-mysterious stranger and nodded.

"Thank you, Endymion." 

The former Prince Endymion smiled gently at his old comrade and shook his head.

"Not anymore. He died a long time ago."

"What should I call you then?"

"Tuxedo Mask."

Artemis nodded before a confused look came over his face.

"Why?"

Tuxedo Mask laughed.

"I tried to think up a good name for a hero. Turns out I'm not very creative, but it'll work for now."

Artemis looked over his outfit and raised an eyebrow.

"And the clothes?"

The former prince gripped his cape and wrapped himself in it, nearly becoming invisible in the dying light of a broken street lamp.

"What? Doesn't this strike fear into your heart? It's what I was going to wear to the castle the night Beryl attacked. At least, I think it was. I was kind of basing it off of memories that came back to me when I saw her," he replied, speaking of when he came face to face with his former love during the battle with Nephrite.

"Serenity?"

He shook his head.

"Those people are dead and gone, Artemis. We don't have to live their lives anymore. I'm a different man than the person you once knew."

"Then why are you here now?"

"Unfinished business," he said solemnly, thinking of his former fiancee that became the queen of darkness. "She's in bad shape. Get her to a hospital."

Artemis torched the beast that Tuxedo Mask had killed and gathered Mina into his strong arms.

"It was good to see you again, prince."

"You too, old friend. We'll meet again." he said as he turned away and disappeared into the black night.

"Well kid. No turning back now," he said cryptically while looking down at her beautiful bruised face as she lay unconscious.

Somewhere across town, in a rented motel that was less than four star, Luna came out of the steamed bathroom wrapped up in nothing but a towel. Hot showers were a gift from God and she was thankful for every single one she got to experience.

She felt lonely in her little fortress of solitude. The girls were asleep by now, with the possible exception of Serena, who didn't seem to be sleeping at all since the battle.

She couldn't even begin to understand how they felt right now. Emotionally they were drained, physically they were abused, and the trust that they knew in a different life had yet to bloom.

Her closest ally, a love she had given up to protect the future, had been out of contact for weeks. She knew he was out there somewhere, but couldn't understand why he was shunning her. She missed him so very much, and desperately wanted to touch him again to know that she was still a real person and not just a fabrication of fate who existed only to set gears into motion.

She should have taken some pride in her progress so far. The bond between her and Serena was slowly rebuilding, and the girls were beginning to come into their own as the only hope for existence. The universe had a chance now, as small as it was, and that was why she had been sent into the future.

But just when it seemed like everything was going better for the rest of the world, it felt like it was falling apart for her own lonely heart.

One phone call would change that. It would reunite two lovers and bring about the beginning of the end of the impasse that the battle of good versus evil had found itself at.

Her cell suddenly belted out 'Moonlight Densetsu,' a song she had heard somewhere during her time in Japan, fell in love with, and downloaded before she forgot the name of it. Her eyes lit up when she saw the number on the other end.

It was Artemis.

She felt her heart pounding inside of her chest. With a deep breath she hit the answer button and placed the phone against her ear. She just wanted to hear his voice.

"Hello?" she asked, purposely sounding unsure of who it was on the other side.

Artemis was right about something in ways he was yet to know.

There was no turning back now.


	14. Chapter 14

"_Our top story tonight is on the unsettling events that seem to be playing out in our streets once the sun goes down. Police in the area have found what they're describing as piles of ashes that seem to appear in random places all over the city. Tonight they are questioning if this correlates with emergency calls they've received from concerned citizens who believe that a teenage girl is terrorizing the city_ ."

The middle aged reporter on the television turned to his younger, prettier, soon-to-be female replacement with inquisitive eyes that poorly hid his contempt.

The woman looked down at her notes and gave her best concerned look as she ignored his petty attempts at disrespect.

"_Yes Jeff, many of our very own viewers have reported the mysterious girl and are living in fear that she is committing brutal acts of murder against seemingly random people. It's believed that after the murder she is actually setting fire to the bodies to cover the heinous act_ ."

"_However it should be noted that the strange piles of ash have not yet been identified as human remains. Adding to that is a lack of actual evidence lending credibility to the claims of the mystery girl, not to mention the outlandish stories that the police have received from tipsters. All calls were made under anonymity, perhaps out of fear of retaliation or maybe the calls are just being made by pranksters, as some claim that the girl is actually out there, get this, killing demons that have been feeding on the flesh and souls of our fair citizens_ ."

The female newscaster scoffed and gave the camera the kind of smile that would soon earn her the top spot on the team.

"_Even so, police are treating most of these reports as possible leads. They are advising people to be careful when traveling at night, partner up with others if you have to be out, and stay indoors if you can_ ."

"_Apparently Halloween is coming early this year. In other news, strange weather continues to spread across the entire globe in a phenomenon that has some scientists nervous. We'll be right back with Bob's forecast on what we have to look forward to this week._"

Kenji Tsukino shifted uncomfortably on his couch. His lovely wife stroked the side of his head as she laid next to him half asleep. She felt his uneasy movements, hindering her own ability to nap, and sat up with a long yawn.

"What's wrong?"

The click of the remote cut through the now silent living room as he turned off the big screen television. He placed the remote on a small table nearby and stared up at the ceiling as his significant other laid her head on his chest.

"You're tense. Problems at work again?"

He shook his head.

"No, I'm just worried about the world in general. Leaving Japan was hard for me. I love the country, and I never wanted to leave, especially for America. I had heard too many horror stories about crime and a dying morality. Raising kids here was an even more frightening thought. Shingo was born here so he's never really known anything else, but Serena is a different story. She was born and raised in Japan for a major part of her life, but now I worry that she can't even speak the language anymore. I fear that I've betrayed my own heritage by taking her away from it. Did we make the right decision for our family?"

"I'm happy wherever our family is. I was an Army brat, I've been all over the world and I think I've realized that it doesn't matter where you are, as long as you're with the people you love."

Kenji smiled at his wife, but there was deep concern hidden behind it.

"In Japan, I don't recall worrying about terrorists or murderous teenage girls rampaging through the night."

Irene sighed and snuggled up closer to her man.

"No. But there was that whole Godzilla thing. I'll take killer schoolgirls over giant fire breathing lizards any day."

The two shared a laugh and began to kiss, while in another part of the house things were not so pleasant.

Serena and her new roommate Lita sat in silence as they both fought the responsibility of going to sleep at a decent hour. Things had been tense between the two since the night Lita joined their cause. Actually, things had been tense between all three girls since the beginning, but had escalated recently to the point of awkward silence that they found themselves in now.

"Hey, Serena."

The half Asian teen stared out of the window and let her thoughts drift to the starry night that blanketed the city.

"Yeah?" she replied, only a bit interested in having a conversation_._

"You're not pissed at me, are you? You seem pretty quiet lately. I understand if you don't want to talk to Ami, she's a bitch, but I was hoping you and I were actually on the right track to be friends." Lita said from the floor in a moment of uncharacteristic humility.

Serena sighed. She wasn't mad. Mad was a feeling she got to experience when she was normal. She didn't know what she was feeling now. It was every frightened and lonely emotion she had ever felt amplified by a billion.

It was Hell.

"No. I'm not mad at you."

"You want to talk about it?"

"No. You wouldn't understand."

Lita sat up and glared at her smaller counterpart.

"That's not fair. My hands are just as dirty as yours."

"You're stronger than me. I guess you're better at handling the whole murder thing better than me."

"Those creatures were not human. I don't consider it murder."

Serena turned over in her bed, facing away from Lita and back out the window. She pulled her blankets up high to hide the fact she was hugging her stuffed animal, a pink bunny with hearts all over it, as tightly as she could.

"Whatever. I don't want to talk about it."

"If you want to, I'm here. You know, if you need a friend."

"I don't need any more friends. I have lots of them. Or at least, I did," she said softly as the thought of Molly abandoning her brought forth a reminiscing silence.

Lita sunk back down on the floor, reminded of her own loneliness in life that was capped off with the recent loss of her parents.

"Yeah, well, good for you. I don't." she replied loudly enough to make sure Serena heard her.

Serena felt awful. She wasn't trying to be a complete and utter bitch, it just kind of happened. She was trapped in a downward spiral of depression and guilt, and she couldn't seem to fight her way out of it. She wondered to herself if there could possibly be anyone else out there feeling as alone and confused in the world as she did that very moment.

Her cell phone rang, and the current pop sensation of the week ring tone she used broke the awkward silence. She reached over to pick it up, and her heart raced a bit at the prospect that it might be Molly calling her to finally talk things out. Her face remained solemn when she saw it was from Luna. The last thing she wanted to hear right now was about their damn mission or some other cryptic nonsense designed to ruin the life she was already barely clinging to.

"Luna, it's late. Can the end of the world wait until tomorrow?"

"Get to the hospital now."

"Are you alright?", she said as she sprung up in bed.

"It's Venus. She needs you. Hurry."

Serena stared forward as the person on the other side hung up.

Venus? The Venus?

"What's going on?"

Lita gave her a concerned look. She could tell by her roommate's expression that something was going down. With them, it was never anything good.

"Get dressed. Luna found another one of us."

"Who?"

"Venus."

Lita's eyes grew. All they had heard about from Luna was the need to find the guardian of Venus, the former leader of the royal army of the Moon. She was the Goddess of war, and the be-all end-all of the fight against the dark realm.

But now that they knew where she was, what would they do? What was she like? What would they say to her?

They had little time to figure out the why's and how's. Luna sounded urgent. The two dressed as quickly as they could, locked the bedroom door, and snuck out the window with the hopes of being as stealthy as possible. Serena doubted her parents would believe the old tired excuse of having to rush to the hospital to meet the planet's greatest weapon in the fight against an inter-dimensional demon queen and her twisted monstrous legion.

Boy, if she had a nickel for every time she used that one. She cracked a real smile for the first time in a long time as the two pretended to be ninja's and high tailed it out of there. Most girls sneak out of their bedrooms to go meet boys, or to go drink, or some other kind of anti-establishment activity that was guaranteed to earn her some 'Hail Mary's' on Sunday.

This was her life now, for better or worse. The feeling of not knowing what came next was exhilarating, terrifying, and a pain in the ass all in one.

What would happen now? She wasn't the only one pondering her own existence and the ramifications of it. Somewhere in a chaotic realm filled with sin and betrayal, a lonely soul sat silent while contemplating his own recent actions.

Jade looked at his hands and imagined all of the blood shed because of them. He was a man of God, or at least he had been in a former life, but now he was nothing more than a pawn in some demon's game.

He had never questioned his role in this plot to destroy the world he once defended so diligently. He, a former priest of the blue planet turned sorcerer, and the four generals of the Dark Kingdom had performed their duties with precision and without the burden of morality.

All he could remember for the past hundreds of years was that day when the Silver Millennium fell. He was a conquering hero along with his brethren, though they were painted as monsters and villains by the people of the Moon Kingdom, who cried out as they were slain.

He was cast into this void for his bravery along with the armies of the Earth Kingdom by the witch Serenity.

But what did they even fight for? He and his kind were still considered monsters, except this time by their own people. He used their technology to gain knowledge on the time he spent exiled in the netherworld and discovered a horrifying fact – it was all for naught.

No one even knew about the great war between the two kingdoms. The powers that be had covered up one of the bloodiest wars of all time, and the Moon Kingdom had been wiped from history completely. No one would ever know of Serenity's obsession with immortality or the Earth's rise against their oppressors. As far as the world now knew, none of it, or the people who lived it, ever existed.

It was a hard pill for him to swallow. He spent more and more time on the planet and away from his missions. He began to adore the way flowers smelled, and how the big city lights could make his heart race when they lit up the night. He noticed the way pretty girls would smile at him when they passed him on the street, and found himself looking more at those very same girls.

Over time the planet opened his eyes to a majesty he hadn't experienced in so long. His memory began to come back to him, including his betrayal at the hands of Beryl, his former mentor and self appointed queen of the Earth Kingdom.

It wasn't just him though. They were all tricked by that witch. His brother Jadeite, and their three closest friends Nephrite, Zoisite, and Kunzite, held him down as Beryl infected him with that poisonous hatred. They led a Devil's crusade and slaughtered the innocent in the name of a corrupt prophet.

They were no heroes. They really were monsters.

Now, he found himself alone, sitting on a throne designated to him as one of the great heroes of the Dark Kingdom. It made him want to vomit. Since his own self discovery he wanted only to set things right by stopping Beryl's plans and freeing the tortured souls that surrounded him.

He was nowhere near strong enough to make much of an impact alone. He needed allies. His release from the prison he and his kind had found themselves in had coincided with the reincarnation of the soldiers of the stars. They were the bravest warriors in the galaxy who had fought a suicidal battle against the legion of demons Beryl's evil master Chaos had summoned.

They were powerful beyond compare, and the Moon Kingdom stood little chance against them. But things were different now. They had lost so much of their once immense power when they were sealed away. The generals worked tirelessly hunting energy, the very souls of human beings, and ripped them out of their fleshy husks. They were gathering their resources to prepare for one final battle, and once they had enough of it Chaos would return and unleash the apocalypse.

If there was a move to make, it had to be made now while they were still weakened. Over time Jade had discovered the identity of the former Princess Serenity, and had quietly aided them in their battle against the darkness. But time was running out and the girls were not ready to face the likes of the Dark Kingdom's greatest warriors.

He had tried to win over his own brother to his cause, but Jadeite was reluctant. He hadn't opened his eyes to the truth yet, and Jade was starting to worry.

What would he have to do to set the wheels in motion to save the world? What would he have to sacrifice to save himself?

"You look like you're in deep thought."

Jade glanced right and saw the shapely form of Tidus, who smiled at him from afar. It wasn't a pleasant smile though, like one two friends would share. It was filled with distrust, dislike, and disgust. The feeling was mutual, as was the condescending tone they both used.

"Are you jealous that I have independent thoughts? That I don't follow blindly like everyone else here?"

"Oh no, I admire your tenacity. I want you to keep being as one of a kind as you are right now," she said as she walked over to his seat, climbed onto his lap, and straddled him as she gazed into his bright green eyes. "It will make your demise so much sweeter."

"What nonsense are you saying, devil?"

Tidus twirled his hair around her fingers and giggled.

"Oh, Jade. You're so cute. You may think we don't have any emotions any more, like you're the only one who is capable of feeling anything, but you're wrong. I'm feeling lots of things," she remarked as she rubbed herself on his lap.

"If you have a point, make it. You're trying my patience."

"Weren't you the one who grabbed me not long ago? With a smile on your face and a song in your heart you had the audacity to touch me. Why aren't you so eager to feel me now? Is it because your little mission of self discovery made you hate what you are? And what I am?"

Jade looked away.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Of course you do, you arrogant little insect. You can throw your life away if you want to, but don't try dragging your brother into oblivion with you. He's mine. He always was, and he always will be. "

"Whatever you had with Jadeite ended a long time ago. You mean nothing to him," Jade said with a self satisfying smile.

"We'll see about that. Surely he'll want a shoulder to cry on when news of your death hits him. I'm sure such news would be devastating, even to...creatures like us. That is how you see us now, isn't it you little human lover? I keep hearing talk about your little crusade, and you know rumors, they spread like the plague. Just a matter of time now, isn't it? I hope I don't miss it when you go down in flames."

Jade felt his heart racing, but not for the obvious reason in his lap. How did she know anything about his plan? Who else knew? Did Beryl? He felt like his time was running even shorter now.

"Listen to me, you demon witch," Jade said softly to the woman on top of him. "If I were you, I would be more worried about myself. I could crush you with a single blow and no one here would give a damn. You are nothing more than the dirt on my boot heel. Now go find a rock to slither under before I lose my good nature and do the things to you I've wanted to for a very long time."

Tidus climbed off of his lap and strolled seductively towards the hallway. She turned around and fixed her clothes as she stared right at Jade.

"I always do love our little talks," she said as she blew him a kiss goodbye.

He stared forward, unflinching in appearance and unwavering in his beliefs. He needed to talk to her again, the only one who he felt any real connection to anymore.

"Serena..."

Serena Tsukino and Nolita Greenwood met Ami at the door of the hospital they had been hurried to so unexpectedly. She looked like she always did, completely perfect and professional as she leaned against the adjacent wall with her arms crossed. The other two looked just like you'd expect - like two sleep deprived girls who had walked a hour in the middle of the night.

The three girls exchanged nods but skipped over any pleasantries and got right down to the point.

"Have you seen her?" asked Lita.

"Yes," replied Ami.

"What was it like?"

Ami shrugged.

"Unimpressive."

Inside, Ami led the others to the elevator to take them to meet their newest soldier. The elevator ride itself was quiet, as the recent turmoil between the three had created an uncomfortable silence that seemed to hang over them. They made their way past the rooms filled with the dying and the sick, all the way down the sterile white hallway to a dim room at the very end.

She saw Luna's long flowing hair before anything else, but Serena hesitated at the door. She looked over at the name on the chart and made out 'Mina.' It sounded so normal. She didn't expect that. She didn't know what to expect.

In between all of the lessons and training Luna had shackled her with she was told about the golden haired warrior who had led the resistance against the demonic army of the past. She had devoted her life to protecting the royal family of the Moon.

Serena's family, in another life anyway.

She had this fantastic history of a life she could only vaguely remember. She was the child of fate, the unwilling savior. She was a teenage girl with dreams larger than the moon in the midnight sky, but everything she was had been taken from her, and everything she would become had been decided for her before she was born.

Now she found herself about to come face to face with the one who had sacrificed the most. She had given up even more than the spoiled little Moon child who just wanted a normal pointless existence.

She wasn't ready for this. She wasn't ready for any of it. But just like before, her own desires and fears mattered little to the powers that be. Destiny could not be ignored.

Luna turned around to face the girls. She waved them in and turned her attention back to the person in bed who they could not see yet. Lita went in first as Ami stood lookout at the door. She had arrived much earlier and had seen what she felt she needed to see. Her response to Lita's question was quite honest. She was hard to impress, and a lifeless girl laying in a hospital bed did little to move her.

Serena stepped in slowly, unsure of what she might find. What she saw next would stay with her for a very long time.

Lying in the bed was a pale blonde girl, who's otherwise beautiful face was covered in fresh scars. She looked so young, as they all did. She was in a very bad way. Her body laid still and if not for the machines beeping constantly you would think the little princess was dead. She looked like she had been beaten to a pulp, and then the pulp had run her over a few hundred times afterward.

"Serena, this is the soldier of the planet Venus, the guardian of the Silver Millennium, and the captain of the royal knights that protected your family for centuries," Luna said, building up a hype that Serena felt in her heart was absolutely deserved.

She looked down at the broken little butterfly and felt pity for her. This was the brave soldier who had covered herself in the blood of any enemy that threatened her sworn monarch? This little girl? Would this be Serena's fate as well? If it was, would anyone visit her and pity her the same way?

"Her name is Mina. It is now, anyway," came an unfamiliar voice.

The girls looked towards the sharp dressed man with the long white hair that had been standing quietly in the shadows.

"Girls, this is Artemis. You may not remember him quite yet, but he served with me under Queen Serenity before the fall. He was a trusted advisor and a brave warrior."

"And your lover," called out Ami, who had been eavesdropping.

Artemis and Luna looked at each other in surprise. She blushed with embarrassment while he smirked with pride.

"I do remember some things. I remember catching you. It's actually hard to get rid of that memory. Also, something about chains and-"

"Anyway!" exclaimed Artemis, covering for his horrified companion. "Now isn't the time for who caught who with who in some kind of awkward positions, lots and lots of very nice awkward positions..."

Luna backhanded him in his chest, knocking the wind out of him and shutting him up before he could incriminate himself further.

"The reason we brought you girls here is because Mina is dying. While I've been trying to catch you three up to speed on what's going on, she has taken to the whole end of the world scenario quite a bit better and has been fighting the darkness at night. Already she has killed dozens of the beasts."

"But dozens are meaningless when they have thousands at their command," Artemis said solemnly while staring down at the one he failed. "Mina fell in battle. I should have protected her. She was starting to trust me and I let her down."

Luna looked at him with sympathy and a hint of jealousy.

"The enemy is ruthless. They will not give you an inch."

"Mina overestimated her abilities and look what happened to her. She is the greatest warrior the universe has ever known and they beat her to an inch of her life. I called you girls here not for a reunion, but for a lesson. This is what happens when you don't devote yourself to the cause. This is what happens when you let your guard down for even a split second. It doesn't matter if you're brilliant, strong, or the savior herself. You can and will die."

Serena stood silently. Even the smart mouthed one and the one with the holier than thou attitude kept quiet. This was another testament to the struggle they would soon face. Killing the enemy was one thing, but the prospect of actually dying at the hands of a monster made their fantastical fate seem very much real.

"Serena."

Serena didn't want to look up at Luna. She felt shameful. She had been crying for herself ever since she destroyed that evil creature and hadn't given one damn for anyone else. She thought the fate of the world revolved around her own self importance and never thought about the ones who had already been fighting and suffering. She never knew or cared to know about someone like Mina, who had already walked away from every aspect of her old life to save a world that didn't even realize she existed.

And for that, she felt worse than she ever had before. At this point she didn't even think that was humanly possible.

"Her injuries are too great for human medicine. These machines are the only thing keeping her alive. You have the power to save her."

Serena looked up with tears in her eyes.

"How?" 

"Your abilities. The light that comes from your soul, it's not a destructive power. You've used it as a weapon, but your kind was gifted with the power to save, not to destroy."

"My kind? What are you talking about?"

Luna smiled.

"It's complicated. You share a very special bloodline. I think if I told you now you wouldn't believe me, and we have very little time for questions. Right now she needs you to use that power to heal her body. You can restore her, you just have to believe."

"I can't! I can't help anyone, don't you see that?" she cried out as she thought back to the only times she used her power. It had been a torrent of destruction against the forces of evil. The one time she tried to use it to save anyone it had failed her completely and she was forced to bloody her hands. What good was she to anyone?

"Cut the shit, Serena."

She looked over at Ami, who glared at her with the kind of hateful eyes she had given her when they first met.

"I'm tired of you feeling sorry for yourself. I have news for you, you're not the only one who's suffering. My father walked out on my mother because my sister killed herself. I barely see either of my parents and I don't know if you noticed, but I'm not exactly the most popular person in the world. Lita's parents just fucking died and she's a social outcast the likes of which they write fucking emo songs about. Everything you've lost you've thrown away because you can't handle it. So fucking what. Do you really want to play the pity game? You're fate's bitch, guess what, now it's a party of four. Get over it and get over yourself."

Lita stepped in front of Serena and rolled up her sleeves. She and Ami never got along in the first place, and she damn sure wasn't about to stand for that kind of disrespect to someone who could be the first real friend she's had in years.

"I've had enough of you to last me a life time. You want to talk circles around me, too? I'd like to see you try it with a broken jaw."

"Lita, no," Serena said softly as she stepped in between the burgeoning fight. "She's right. I'm weak. I let myself be weak. I'm not as strong as you, or as smart as her. I feel like I'm losing myself. My parents are beginning to feel like strangers to me. My best friend wants nothing to do with me. I'm pretty fucked up. I don't feel like I can do anything for anyone right now. But if Luna says that I can help save this girls life I'll do whatever it takes."

Luna nodded at her.

"I know you can do it. You just have to believe you can. Think of everything, the good, the bad, channel your very soul and bend the energy to your will. It's not something I can truly describe, but you'll feel it. Find every good memory you have and use that serenity to call forth the power. Remember the pain, the bitterness, use your anger and hatred to focus that power and save Mina's life. I believe in you, Serena."

Lita stared hatefully at Ami.

"I do too."

Ami rolled her eyes.

"We all do. Look, I used to think you were a waste of life. I don't think that way anymore. I'm sorry for what I said. I just want you to justify the faith I think I found in you."

Serena stood over Mina's lifeless body. This stranger, who's existence had meant more to her than anyone else in another life, lay somewhere in the balance between this world and the next. She would have to do the impossible and not just summon her power at will, but use it to pry away the cold hands of Death.

"Whoever you are, I hope you know what they're asking of me. And I hope you can forgive me if they're wrong."

Artemis kept silent. He prayed in secret for Mina's survival, but he knew what that would mean. If she knew who was saving her life, if she had any idea who was in the same room with her right now and could do anything about it, she would have surely killed her and then destroyed him for instigating it. He hoped that this act of heroism would sway Mina's heart about the death of the Moon princess, or at least buy him some time to change her mind.

Hope was all they had left to hold on to anymore.

Serena closed her eyes. She tried to find that peace within herself, but found only chaos and uncertainty. Memories flashed like strobe lights, and voices from every part of her mind were clamoring for a million different things. She couldn't make out any one particular voice at first, but as they all yelled and cried out to her she found a familiar one that drew her close. She saw the most beautiful woman she had ever seen, with flowing silver hair and deep eyes that drew her closer and closer. She wore a white dress that clung perfectly to her slim body, and on her forehead was a crescent moon that seemed to shine through the darkness of Serena's mind.

She found herself floating through the darkness, away from the real world and everyone she was close to. She wasn't afraid though. She felt a strange peace, as if it were all familiar to her. The voice of the angelic woman called out to her to feel no fear.

As her feet touched what felt like solid ground a wave went out in all directions around her, turning the darkness into a lavish kingdom illuminated brilliantly under the twilight of a thousand stars. High above her was the shining blue Earth.

She was on the Moon. But it wasn't the unfeeling desolate place that we know it as now. It felt warm and inviting. In a way, it felt like home.

Serena watched as the wave washed over the beautiful woman, and as it did the angelic wings on her back became visible.

The woman smiled at her and she felt that sense of serenity Luna had told her about.

"You're as beautiful as I remember."

Serena felt her heart race. It was beating so fast she thought it was going to explode. The emotions, the memories, everything was coming to her all at once and she felt like she was going to pass out.

"You're..."

Back in the hospital room, a white aura surrounded her. The aura seemed to burn away the scars that Mina wore across her face. Within moments the teen's beauty was as perfect as it had ever been. The once deathly still girl began to manipulate her fingers and her eyes started to move around behind her eyelids. The dying flower had reversed its fortune and was coming back to life in front of them all.

Lita grinned from ear to ear. She knew her new best friend could do it. She felt something special in her and it gave her hope that she too could be that strong someday.

Ami's expression never changed. She was in awe of the moment, but years of training herself to be cold and distant prevented her from showing it. Regardless, she was proud.

Luna and Artemis watched with great happiness at the turn of events. They knew if Serena could harness that incredible power the future of the world just might stand a chance after all.

With Mina's being recovering at an incredible rate, the aura began to fade and the room slowly became dim once more. Serena turned to her companions with a weak smile on her face, and blood pouring down from her nose.

"I saw her," she said soflty before her eyes rolled into the back of her head and she collapsed on the hospital floor.

She couldn't hear the commotion around her anymore. The voices were finally muted.

She felt nothing as her body lay still and cold on the hard floor. Her friends rushed to her side and yelled out for help, and quickly the entire scene turned frantic. The lights in her head turned on occasionally and she could feel herself being wheeled somewhere, she could see the bright lights overhead, and she could hear nothing but confusion.

Before she fell there was a moment where she longed for the peace she felt in whatever she had just experienced. Whether it was a vision, a sign, or just some kind of fevered daydream, it was something her very soul had been craving desperately.

But now that peace was gone, and she was left to face her grim reality once more.


	15. Chapter 15

The bar was smokey by this time of night.

It was a local hotspot, the kind of place girls go to dance where no one will recognize them. It was a place they say you go to relax at, but no one in the establishment looked very relaxed. Guys were hovering around the provocatively dressed women who tossed down drink after drink with their flirty smiles.

The atmosphere was chaotic in that sensual kind of way. Voluptuous figures moved back and forth as the lights flickered to their body strokes. Eyes devoured the scene, hungry for more as their hearts lay beating uncontrollably in their chests. Their minds were filled with devious thoughts, their souls buried deep under their own desires.

No one questioned the why's and how's of the nights adventure. They found themselves here as they did every weekend. Same place, same faces, same intoxicated thoughts for another dreamless night. They were all under it's deprived spell. It was a hypnotic rhythm of drowned out music, uninhibited talking, obnoxious laughter, and unequaled consumption.

The bell above the door to the little California bar at the end of the street jingled as he came in. It was a new face in a sea of same, and their red eyes all glanced towards him as he made his way to the jukebox.

The barely there music suddenly took over the scene as 'I Put a Spell on You' by Creedence Clearwater Revival filled the smokey air.

He walked through the sea of faces, each turning to him as he walked with an air of arrogance towards the girl at the bar. She was young, probably too young to even be in the bar legally. She was also exceptionally beautiful, even so in a room full of 20 somethings that could each steal a man's soul with a wink.

The man who had bought her a drink, the one who had been talking her ear off for half hours now trying to get her into the car he had wasted his entire savings on, saw him coming. He tried to keep her attention but it was useless. Even as he bragged loudly about his job and threw out his best lies about trips to Italy the girl's head was turning to the mystery man.

He stood next her, ignoring the empty seat right beside her. She smiled at him, knowingly giving him the rare kind of smile that caused men to declare wars and cheat on loved ones. But he stared back at her with the most uninterested look a man had ever given a goddess.

For her, it wasn't a blow off. It was a challenge, and not one she faced very often.

"Want to buy me a drink?" she asked with a flirty movement of her curvy barely contained form.

The man leaned in close to her and brushed his cheek against hers as he put his lips next to her ear. She felt a shiver go down her spine and between her legs. She was already flustered, already willing to let him ravage her, and he hadn't even spoken yet.

But when he did speak, her knees shook.

"No, I don't," he said in a thick french accent. "I want you to grab the man next to you and rip his throat out with your bare teeth."

She pulled back and looked at him with shock and horror.

"And then I want you to do the same to everyone in this pathetic human prison."

He decided to take the seat next to her finally. He took her drink and started to sip from it as the girl stared forward into nothing. The other man, the one that had been trying all night to do what this stranger had done in one movement, put his hand on her shoulder. He finally saw his chance.

Tonight was going to be his lucky night.

"Screw this creep. Let's get out of here."

The stranger glanced over at her and winked. Without warning the girl grabbed her would be suitor's hand and bit into his wrist, causing him to scream out in agony. She leaped on top of him and bit directly into his jugular, spraying blood on everyone around.

At first people stood around wondering what was going on. It was human nature to be curious and they had all slowed down to watch when they saw a wreck on the side of the road. But once the now feral girl grabbed another patron and bit part of his face off they all ran for the doors.

The man at the bar waved his hand and the doors and windows in the smokey bar all closed and locked themselves. People kicked and punched at them but to no avail. Some kind of supernatural force had turned the plain metal doors into a kind of fortress of bloodshed and death.

Some fended for their lives and tried to fight off the creature that was locked inside with them. Those lucky enough to grab her had their arms torn off outright. Smarter people who had grabbed weapons found their pool sticks impaling them and their stools used to break their heads wide open, spilling shattered bone and brain everywhere.

Those that hid were picked off one by one and torn apart by the ravenous young woman that had come here in her weekly uneventful quest for love and a good time. The girl had come dressed in a sexy mini skirt that she had to occasionally keep pulled down and a midriff baring tank top she occasionally pulled up to show off her flat stomach. Now her clothes were mostly torn off and she was instead adorned in the blood and entrails of the hopeless souls that had come here in the same pursuits.

Everyone was dead. Everyone, that is, except for the stranger that sat quietly at the bar finishing his drink.

The girl, coming down off of whatever kind of spell that had caused her to go savage, looked around at the bloody chaos and was too terrified to even scream.

The stranger stood up and made his way past the shredded corpses on the floor as the song he had put on came to a close.

The girl looked up at him with tears falling from her beautiful blue eyes. He put his finger over his lips, shushing her from the inevitable pity party she was going to throw for herself over what she had done.

"I knew you were special the moment I laid eyes on you. Shall I?" he asked as he held his hand out to her with a charming smile on his handsome young face.

The girl, with probably no real clue as to what he meant, nodded and took his hand. A light shone from behind her eyes and came out of her mouth as she screamed out in excruciating pain. It traveled through her shapely body, down her arm, and into his hand. When it finally faded he let go and allowed her body to slump over on the floor.

Her eyes were burned out of her skull, her tongue was barely there in her mouth and what remained was charred. There was a look of torment on her once lovely young face, a statement about the kind of pain and horror that engraved on her soul that now belonged to him.

A silhouetted figure walked slowly towards the front of the bar, whistling his new favorite song as the doors and windows opened themselves for him. The old neon sign above the door flickered, showing flashes of his chiseled face. He stepped into the blood soaked scene and looked over the sea of death and destruction his minion had created.

"Well played, Misha," Nephrite said with a smile. "Janelle?"

A curvacious woman in a skin tight dress that barely kept her ample breasts covered appeared at his side.

"Your turn."

This would get their attention.

Somewhere far away, Mina stood against the sea of stars that surrounded the Moon on all sides. She surveyed the scene of destruction left in the wake of the Dark Kingdom's unholy war against Serenity. The smell of burning flesh and smoldering rubble nearly made her throw up.

"Am I dreaming?" she asked anyone that would answer.

"Not exactly."

She turned around to see herself staring back at her. But it wasn't exactly her. She looked similar, the eyes were the same, but this version was dressed in a battle maiden's armor. She was older, more mature, and carried in her eyes a soul that was forged in war.

"Am I dead?"

The older one grinned.

"You wish."

The two circled each other. One was dressed in her favorite Union Jack hoodie. It was a symbol of the part of her that held on desperately to her humanity. The other, head to toe in her battle worn armor, kept her right hand on the handle of her holy sword. It was given to her by the queen herself, and was a symbol of her loyalty and bravery in countless wars.

"What do you want from me?" the younger Mina asked.

"Courage. Faith. Things you lack."

"Bloody hell. I'm doing what you couldn't, so don't lecture me. I'm going to save the world!"

"Save the world? You couldn't even protect yourself. You're weak. It is a weakness that comes with youth and arrogance. You're impulsive and destructive."

"And I suppose you know a better way to live? Blind loyalty? Unquestioned devotion? Yeah, believing in that worked out real great for you, didn't it?"

"Maybe," Venus said as she stopped moving. "But at least I believed in something. What do you fight for?"

"Myself," the Brit responded. "I'm not going to make the same mistakes you did. I won't let this happen again."

"You're nothing alone. None of you are. If you can't understand that then you've already lost."

"Sod off," the reluctant fighter said as she turned her back on herself. "I'm not you and I never will be."

Venus smiled warmly at the person she had become.

"No. I suppose not," she said as her image blew away like dust in a wind that couldn't be felt on the silent and still Moon.

Mina opened her eyes slowly. The beeps of the machines that surrounded her had finally called her from her much needed rest. She looked around for the disappointed face of her former life but found only a dark hospital room with Artemis sleeping soundly in a chair nearby.

She climbed out of her bed with surprising ease considering the massive beat down she had suffered at the hands of that monster. She walked slowly to her private bathroom and was shocked to see nary a single wound or bruise on her face. She pulled her hospital gown off and stared at her own nude body with a confused smirk. The giant scar that ran up her torso was gone. Her flesh was as perfect as it had ever been.

The little sneak ditched her hospital gown and put on her bloody clothes from the fight that landed her here. She thought about waking Artemis, but decided it would be nice to get away from him for a little while and take a night off. She hadn't enjoyed one of those in a very long time. Besides, as best as she could remember she had just almost died. She deserved an underage drink or two.

The question of how she was still alive did nag at her though. She screwed up pretty big this time and it almost cost her everything. She had lost so much blood she was sure she was a goner. But she seemed fine now, and not only that but the scars she did have were completely gone. It was like she had been resurfaced like a scratched disc.

She didn't know whether to feel lucky or cursed. Regardless, it was time for a break out to enjoy a moment of peace before resuming her mission.

She hid behind her room door and waited for two nurses to walk away before she would make her big move. Little did she know the casual banter of the two would answer the perplexing questions about her well being and give her a new mission that would solve everything.

"Did you hear about the mystery girl?"

"The one they brought in ripped apart? Did she die?"

"Oh, no, actually the exact opposite. She's completely healed. It's some kind of miracle. Even stranger, some girl who came to visit her fell into a coma at the same time. They've got her in the room down the hall now. I hear she's not doing so well. They called her family not long ago and they're on their way to sit with her. Not sure it will do much good, though. I guess it's better to say goodbye while you can."

"That's terrible to lose your child so mysteriously."

"Yep. I've got to get out of this city. It's getting weirder and weirder by the day. First violent murders, now divine intervention?"

Mina rolled her eyes. It was so easy to create fantastical explanations and overlook the little details that make things the way they are. Still, there could be only one explanation for this turn of events. There was only one power she had ever heard about that could snatch someone away from death, and it didn't belong to God.

It belonged to that damned girl she had sworn to cut down.

The successor to that same cursed bloodline that brought chaos and destruction to whatever planet it was close by. Artemis had tried to keep them apart ever since she touched down in America, but now all of his tricks and sleight of hand was pointless.

It would end tonight.

Mina employed her natural grace and trained stealth techniques to make her way down the hall without garnering any unwanted attention. She had to do this fast and silently before one of the white coats or Artemis could stop her.

While the nurses kept themselves awake with idle chit chat and drowned themselves in cup after cup of coffee, she peered into every room at the sick and dying. She thought to herself about how weak humanity was, and suddenly the immortal lifespan of the moon people seemed even more selfish. So many lived and died painfully while they lived in their castle in the sky. Where was the justice in that?

She found herself at the end of the hall and staring at a pale teenage girl with blonde hair laying motionless. She checked the name on the front door and slid into the darkened room of one Serena Tsukino and shut the door quietly behind her.

She looked over the girl who lay near death in her bed and felt nary a pluck on the strings of her heart. She knew what she had to do for the sake of the world. She told herself it wasn't personal, and even though she knew she was lying to herself murder was nothing she would shed a tear over. She had killed hundreds to get to this point. The ties the two once had were a lifetime away, and one more faceless death wouldn't shatter her soul. It's not like either of them were innocent. Truth be told they were all as much monsters as the creatures they hunted. They were supposed to have died a very long time ago and their reincarnation made them something inhuman.

They were impure.

"Let me start by thanking you for saving me. I'm not entirely ungrateful. I'm sure you would understand why I have to do this," she said softly as she revealed a scalpel she had swiped on her way to her victim.

She walked towards Serena and studied her every intricacy.

"I'm afraid I haven't the time to explain the whole thing to you. Here's the jist. Once upon a time I lived in servitude of your family. For reasons I can't comprehend I died for you and that should have been the end of the story. But somehow your damned mother found a way to force me into slavery once more. I will not wear those chains ever again and the world will not suffer because of your selfishness. So it ends here with me and you. I hope you find peace in death. I hope we both do. Don't feel too bad."

She raised the scalpel high with every intent on shoving it through the young girls heart.

"I'm next."

As her hand came down to deliver judgment, someone grabbed her wrist, stopping the blade just inches from Serena's chest.

Mina turned to see Artemis staring back at her with quite possibly the angriest look she had ever seen in her young life.

"Let go of my wrist."

"I'm not letting you kill her. That's not why I brought you here."

"This may be my only chance to save the world, Artemis. Let go!"

"You listen to me!" he said loudly as he aggressively pushed her away.

Mina stumbled back, almost tripping over her own feet. She readied her blade again, this time against her own mentor.

"This girl is the only hope for this world, not you."

"Liar! She had her chance! I'm the savior now!" Mina said as she fought back tears.

"Mina, please. I never told you the entire truth about this girl. I never told you about the blood that runs through her veins. There are some things even I don't understand about her. You just have to trust me. Please, if you can remember any of the feelings you had for me before, just trust me."

"No. Never again! Why are you protecting her? I'm the one who gave up everything! I'm the one who has suffered her whole life for these people and their beautiful lies. How many times are they going to bring me back just to suffer?"

Mina put the blade to her own wrist.

"It's either her or me. You choose who dies!"

"Mina, don't do this." 

"Now, Artemis. I'm not fucking around."

Artemis stared blankly at the girl he had mentored through two life times. 

In one, they were the best of friends and staunch allies on the battlefield. In secret, she was deeply in love with him, and filled with jealousy over his romance with Luna. She existed to serve Serenity, but she lived for his approval.

In this turn though, he felt like a thief. He had stolen this troubled yet normal girl from her new life and stripped away her humanity piece by piece. Over the past few months he had trained her to be nothing but an emotionless killer in the hopes that they could end the bloody conflict once and for all. He often mentioned her past life to her in the hopes she would remember her warrior ways, but in a lot of aspects he wanted her to keep all of those feelings and attachments buried so it wouldn't cloud their current mission.

It seemed all of his efforts were blowing up in his face at the moment. Would she really force him to make a life or death decision between a woman he's admired and loved his entire life, and this supposed savior who would destroy the darkness once and for all? He knew she would. He had trained her that way.

"Her."

The two stared at each other in complete silence now.

One heart was broken.

One heart was utterly obliterated.

The next day at school, Lita's thoughts were still turned to Serena. She wanted to be at the hospital with her but couldn't find the courage to explain herself to the girls parents, who were staying vigilantly bedside by their daughter until she woke up. There were too many questions she would have to answer and she couldn't come up with lies quick enough. School was her excuse to get away from all the mystery.

Now she found herself up on the roof, where Serena loved to go, and she watched the world below her come and go during her lunch break.

"Look at this," said Ami, who slid her laptop in front of the sullen girl.

"Can't this all wait? With what happened to Serena, I just... I'm not in the mood."

Ami shook her head.

"We can cry about her later. We don't have the luxury to do it right now. Read the article. It was posted today by the mysterious Mamoru Chiba."

Lita, fighting back the urge to go off on the little bitch again, swallowed her frustration and read the words on the screen. It was a local news article on a murder/suicide that had occurred at one of the town's bars last night that left dozens dead in a very brutal animalistic way.

"They're getting bold."

Ami nodded as she took her laptop back and started scrolling through other stories.

"They're calling us out. So far we've managed to operate in secrecy and keep the truth, as well as ourselves, out of the spotlight. They're changing the game. Killing so many people at once is a frightening new development, and only the alleged killer has any signs of their life force being stolen. Not to mention the killer was a college girl with no history of violence that suddenly went insane and murdered everyone around her. They also found a note at the scene saying it would happen again tonight, and every night after until the 'chosen ones' stopped them."

"It's a set up."

"Of course it is. And our only choices are letting them continue to kill innocent people, or spring their trap and try to stop them."

Lita knew where this was going. She wasn't like Serena and actually enjoyed the violent side of their mission. It helped her get out a long of rage over her screwed up life. Still, with her thoughts drifted to their fallen comrade, who may not have been much of a fighter but brought a sense of hope and togetherness to the group.

"We'll have to go without her."

"We'll recruit the reckless one to help us. Now is a good time to see if the legendary soldier is as good as they told us she was."

"What about Serena?"

Ami shut her laptop and stood up.

"She gets in the way."

Lita glared at her so called friend as the petite Asian left the rooftop to go to her next class.

Serena's parents Kenji and Irene sat quietly in her room watching over their first born. They had got the call not long ago once the girl had been identified by the police and had been by her side ever since. The doctors could tell them nothing about their daughters condition. She was in a deep coma but had no physical injuries and all of their scans came up with absolute zero.

She just laid there as peaceful as anyone has ever been.

A knock from the door garnered the attention of the father, while the mother started hopelessly at her angel.

"Mr. and Mrs. Tsukino? I hope this isn't a bad time."

Standing in the doorway was Rei Hino, still clad in her Catholic school uniform with a silver cross around her thin neck.

"Who are you?"

"I'm sorry to intrude. My name is Rei. Serena and I are...acquaintances. My pastor told me what happened and I was wondering if it would be alright if I prayed with you over your daughter?"

An awkward look came across Kenji's face.

"I'm sorry, Rei. Our family has never been particularly religious."

"It's alright, Kenji," Irene said softly as she continued to watch Serena. "We could use the Lords help now more than ever, miss Rei."

Rei smiled politely as she motioned over to the comatose girls bedside. This was one of Lita's friends, and in her surveillance of the troubled high school student she had discovered the unusual condition of this Serena Tsukino. She decided to take time out from her attempts to understand her visions to offer some old fashioned comfort to a family that needed a miracle.

She looked familiar to Rei, but the raven haired beauty couldn't quite put her finger on where she knew her from. She looked so serene though, as if she was finally at complete peace. It didn't seem like an entirely awful fate considering how awful the world was becoming.

"How long has she been like this?"

"Since last night. She was visiting someone here when she collapsed. The hospital can't tell us much of anything about who she was here for or why she's fallen into a coma. They say nothing is wrong with her. She just won't wake up."

Irene started to cry and buried her face in her husbands chest as he spoke. Every time she was reminded of Serena's condition felt like she was hearing it for the first time.

"Don't worry Mrs. Tsukino. She has the Lord on her side."

Rei knelt down and started a quiet prayer for the oddly familiar face before her. She recited a passage she knew by heart, and meant every word she said. She was unwavering in her faith and hoped that this poor girl would somehow hear her.

Rei unhooked the cross necklace she wore so lovingly and placed it into Serena's hands.

As soon as their skin touched each other a wall of images crushed Rei's mind under their emotional weight. She saw flashes of a school attack, and a great palace on the moon. She witnessed the slaughter of thousands of innocent people, and distinctly heard the sounds of hammering in her head. Pieces of her nightmare came back to her, and the mysterious girl lamenting her failure to save the world suddenly and quite clearly became Serena. She heard the hammering even louder, and saw her savior Jesus Christ having his wrists nailed into a wooden cross. Somewhere in the sea of space she saw Serena crucified on a black crystal cross with a monstrous demon lurking in the blackness behind her.

In her bed, Serena opened her eyes suddenly and whispered "_Help me_..."

Rei screamed out loud and fell backwards as her legs gave out on her. She wrapped her arms around her legs and buried her face in her knees as she began to cry uncontrollably. Kenji and a group of nurses rushed over to the young girls aid, while Irene's eyes opened wide with disbelief.

"Kenji!"

Her panicked husband turned around to find a shocking sight. Serena was sitting upright in bed, staring forward blankly.

Kenji and Irene hugged their daughter tightly and smothered her with love and worry. There was no reaction, though. Her eyes were open now, but her condition remained largely unchanged.

From the ground, Rei stared up at the wide eyed motionless teenager with fear. What was that power she felt when she touched her? There was something about her that was both foreign and frightening.

She didn't feel human.

At the doorway in the sea of nurses stood Luna, who had watched the whole scene unfold from the shadows. She also felt the strange power that emitted when the two came into contact with each other, and she sensed something incredible in the Catholic school girl.

It was all coming together now.

She was sure she had found the final piece of the puzzle, but wasn't sure how she could break it to her. They were losing time and didn't have the luxury of letting her discover it all for herself.

Judgment was coming, Luna was unaware of Ami and Lita's plans to face off against the forces of darkness that very night without her or Serena.

Meanwhile, Artemis sat on the roof of the hospital staring out at the horizon of buildings and people going back and forth in their day to day lives. He wondered to himself if he had done this the wrong way, and if maybe he were to blame for Mina's rebellious nature. She was so different from the strong willed warrior he had known so very long ago. She was brash and arrogant now without the sense of honor and righteousness that made her so legendary during the Silver Millennium.

He didn't know who she was anymore. Even worse, he didn't know where she was. She ran from the hospital so fast after their confrontation that he never even had a chance to apologize or try to make her understand. He worried about her now that she was healthy again and mentally unstable. Before she was a violent teenager with an attitude problem. He had no idea what she would become now that she felt her had turned his back on her.

He felt like he needed to give her some space right now, though. The worst thing he could do was act like her estranged father. Right now though, he sure as hell felt like one.

"I'm sorry, Mina. I'm so sorry."

Mina frantically searched through the closet of the motel room she and Artemis had been renting since they touched down in America. She grabbed all the clothing she could and tossed it in a gray duffel bag that sat on the disgustingly cheap bed she had slept on while Artemis took the floor.

He was always a gentleman like that.

The thought did cross her mind for a split second in her frenzy. She smiled briefly at the thought of his companionship, both now and during her previous life. She quickly shook off that feeling though, and resumed her planned escape from all this madness.

She threw her bloody clothes onto the floor and slid on a new pair of panties. She reached for a t-shirt when a noise behind her drew her attention. She put her foot under her sword on the ground and kicked it up into her hand. She spun around and pointed the tip of her blade right at her intruders throat.

Jade stood motionless as he felt the tip cut into his skin a bit. He looked up and down the topless girls body and smirked.

"You humans continue to amaze me."

"I'm going to kill you."

"I could think of worse ways to die. This would be the nicest last sight anyone could ever see." 

Mina pushed the sword into his neck more.

"Glad you like the view. Goodbye."

She swung the sword at Jade's neck, but he ducked under before the blade could strike him. Mina readied her sword again and pivoted around in search of her prey. A shirt hit her in the face as Jade appeared behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist and pinned her arms to her chest. He held her tightly against his body to where she could barely move at all.

"Put your clothes on. We need to talk."

He pushed her away, and she readied her blade once more.

"Please. If I wanted to kill you, you'd already be dead. I have a proposition for you."

Mina hesitated, but eventually dropped her guard. She pulled her shirt on and grabbed a pair of jeans from the floor and pulled them over her lacy black underwear. She started packing again while the mysterious young man watched her with a perplexed look on his handsome face.

"Did you hear me, girl?"

"I heard you. I don't care."

Jade laughed out loud as the girls brazenness.

"You don't seem to phased by this at all. So different from the other one."

Mina stopped and turned to face him.

"I am the reincarnation of a great warrior from a long lost kingdom on the moon. I was a normal kid until recently, and now I hunt monsters and kill them so the world won't be swallowed whole by a galactic demon soon. A pervert staring at my tits in a sleazy motel is the most normal thing that has happened to me in months. Not that you'd believe any of that, nor do I care if you do or not. Just stay out of my way."

Jade snapped his fingers and Mina was knocked by an unseen force onto the bed. Realizing this was no ordinary pervert she reached for her sword again to defend herself, but Jade held out his hand and the blade flew to him.

"I learned that from Star Wars. I never realized anything that epic could ever exist. I rather like this world, you know. I would rather not see it destroyed."

Jade threw Mina her sword.

"How would you like to be its savior?"

Mina laid her sword down beside her and sat still.

"I'm listening."

Jade sat down on the bed next to her and stared into her deep blue eyes. She was remarkably beautiful, and his time on earth had made him more vulnerable to a pretty face. Still, he had quite the tale to tell her and no time for failed romances. His story was one of heroes and villains, warriors and monsters, and the fall of man. He felt the need to play more than hand at once, and while Serena was momentarily useless he would find a new angle.

This girl, with her chaotic heart and overwhelming desire to be the hero, would be the perfect new pawn.

"Where do I begin?"


End file.
